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CHESTERFIELDS 


toflis'Son. 


'N.M.CnJ  dwell  Co. 
New  York™*  'Boston. 


Copyright,  igoo 
By  H.  M.  Caldwell  Co. 


oo  \ \ ~ *)  ft  15 } ‘ \ 


t 


Prefatory  Remarks 

pHILIP  DORMER  STANHOPE, 
Earl  of  Chesterfield,  1694-1773, 
has  had  the  fate  of  being  generally  mis- 
understood. Doctor  Johnson,  then  Mr., 
a poor  scholar  but  in  the  prime  of  life, 
seems  to  have  mistaken  a delay  in  an 
interview,  and  to  have  abused  his  lord- 
ship  very  soundly  ever  afterward, 
although  on  Chesterfield’s  side  there 
was  not  wanting  a most  gracious  move- 
ment toward  reconciliation  where  no 
offence  had  been  given.  To  this  mis- 
conception we  owe  one  of  the  finest 
and  manliest  letters  ever  written ; but 
we  cannot  overlook  the  blunder. 


3 


#4  Prefatory  Remarks 


After  this,  too,  came  the  condem- 
nation of  the  celebrated  letters,  — a 
savage  epigram,  only  partially  true, 
and  redeemed  by  a more  favourable 
criticism.  If  Mr.  Dickens  painted 
— as  it  has  been  said  he  did — Sir 
John  Chester  from  Lord  Chesterfield, 
he  equally  mistook  the  man  ; and  we 
are  sorry  to  add  to  this  list  of  those 
who  have  followed  Johnson’s  lead,  Mrs. 
Oliphant,  in  her  recent  admirable  cc  His- 
torical Sketches.” 

The  simple  truth  is,  that  men  are  to 
be  judged  by  the  places,  temper  of  the 
times,  nay,  even  the  very  atmosphere 
which  surrounds  them,  — and  Chester- 
field lived  in  a lax,  immoral  time,  when 
a mistress  was  as  well  recognised  in 
polite  society  as  a concubine  was  in 
the  days  of  King  David.  The  Cupidon 


Prefatory  Remarks  Hr 


dechaine  at  The  Hague,  a beautiful  young 
lady,  a governess  or  dame  de  compagnie , 
set  her  wits  against  his,  and  suffered 
the  usual  penalty ; she  fell,  and  this 
son  to  whom  these  letters  are  written 
was  the  resultTjj  But  if  Chesterfield 
was  not  a Christian  gentleman,  he  was 
in  some  sense  a gentleman  ; Mademoi- 
selle, or,  as  she  was  called,  Madame  de 
Bouchet,  was  always  treated  with  dis- 
tinguished politeness,  and  when  he  died 
he  left  her  a legacy  as  some  slight 
recompense  for  the  injury  he  had  done 
her.  He  married  a lady  of  blood 
royal,  though  crossed  by  a bar  sinister 
[daughter  of  George  I.  and  the  Duch- 
ess of  Kendal] , and  this  lady  grew  very 
fond  of  his  son  Philip  and  respectfully 
greeted  the  mother ; and  for  this  son 
more  than  a thousand  letters  attest  the 


5 


Prefatory  Remarks 


father’s  affection ; he  is  placed  under 
the  care  of  an  excellent  clergyman,  he 
is  urged  to  pay  the  greatest  attention 
to  his  mother,  to  his  tutor,  to  his 
morals,  to  his  upright,  straightforward 
behaviour,  to  his  honesty.  w I don’t 
speak  of  religion,”  writes  his  father, 
u I am  not  in  a position  to  do  so ; the 
excellent  Mr.  Harte  will  do  that.” 
We  don’t  defend  Chesterfield’s  faults, 
but  we  must  speak  for  his  virtues. 
Not  one  father  in  ten  thousand,  in 
those  days,  was  so  good,  so  tender,  and 
so  wise ; his  son  grew  up  to  marry  a 
lady  of  whom  his  father  knew  nothing 
till  a widow  and  two  children  came  as 
suppliants,  in  that  splendid  room  in 
Chesterfield  House  where  the  old  earl 
sate  in  lonely  greatness.  He  forgave 
the  dead  son’s  offence,  and  behaved 
6 


Prefatory  Remarks  Hr 


most  generously  to  the  children,  two 
boys,  whom  he  educated. 

Mrs.  Eugenia  Stanhope,  the  widow 
of  the  recipient  of  these  letters,  sold 
them,  enhanced  in  value  from  the 
earl’s  literary  reputation,  for  ^1,500! 
an  immense  sum  in  those  days.  From 
the  two  quartos  of  large  margin  and 
printing,  this  compact  volume  is  con- 
densed. All  that  has  been  left  out  are 
lessons  in  Greek  and  Roman  history, 
mythology,  German  history,  and  such 
matters  as  might  be  written  to  a child. 
Thence,  even,  if  a sentence  occurs 
worth  preserving,  it  has  been  picked 
out.  Let  us  not  forget  that  the  Earl 
of  Chesterfield  — who  writes  much  as 
did  Mr.  Thackeray  in  his  letter  to 
Brown  the  Younger — tells  his  son 
that  he  always  frequented  the  company 
7 


#?  Prefatory  Remarks 


of  his  superiors ; and  his  superiors 
he  reckoned  not  only  by  their  rank. 
u Doctor  Swift  and  Mr.  Pope,”  he  says, 
u condescended  to  admit  me  into  their 
company,  and,  though  they  had  no  titles, 
and  I was  an  earl,  I always  felt  that  I 
was  obliged  by  their  politeness,  and 
was  favoured  by  being  allowed  to 
converse  with  them.”  Are  there  many 
noblemen  who  would  say  so  nowa- 
days ? No,  nor  many  Popes  nor  Swifts, 
— nor,  let  us  add,  Chesterfields. 

Mr.  Stanhope  has  also  been  very 
much  misrepresented.  He  has  been 
called  a cub,  a bear,  and  an  awkward 
lout.  Actually,  he  was  a learned,  skil- 
ful diplomatist,  for  which  profession, 
be  it  remembered,  his  father  specially 
educated  him.  He  was  a manly,  stout- 
built  Englishman,  not  a dancing-master, 


Prefatory  Remarks  Hr 


and  to  lack  grace  was  his  only  fault. 
Subjective  and  brilliant  writers  of  his- 
tory have  polished  Mr.  Stanhope  with 
a black-lead  brush  to  suit  their  pur- 
poses, but  these  brilliant  fellows  are, 
as  usual,  false.  James  Boswell,  the 
biographer,  who  knew  him,  says  truly 
enough,  “ Mr.  Stanhope’s  character 
has  been  unjustly  represented  as  being 
diametrically  opposite  to  what  Lord 
Chesterfield  wished  him  to  be.  He 
has  been  called  dull,  gross,  and  awk- 
ward ; but  I knew  him  at  Dresden, 
when  he  was  envoy  to  that  court,  and 
though  he  could  not  boast  of  the  graces, 
he  was,  in  fact,  a sensible,  civil,  well- 
behaved  man.”  Other  persons,  and 
more  than  one  lady  in  these  pages, 
speak  much  more  highly  than  Boswell 
does  of  him. 


9 


Prefatory  Remarks 


But  the  chief  defence  of  both  father 
and  son  lies  in  the  following  pages. 
The  Editor  of  the  “ Remarque  Series” 
believes  that  such  a book  is  eminently 
needed  by  the  present  age,  and  that 
this  book  is  wonderfully  well  fitted  for 
what  is  known  in  literary  slang  as  the 
u Period.”  Higher  morality  is  to  be 
had,  but  is  not  read ; this  honest  world- 
ling will  speak  to  the  hearts  of  those 
who  are  already  set  upon  the  world, 
will  guide  them  rightly,  according  to 
his  lights,  will  leave  them  at  a higher 
stage,  and  will  perhaps  astonish  them 
when  they  reflect  that  in  outward  result 
the  teachings  of  this  adroit  and  cunning 
courtier  and  man  of  the  world,  and  of 
the  too  often  despised  preacher,  are  the 
same. 


io 


J.  H.  F. 


Selections  from 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters 


Selections  from 
Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters 


The  Art  of  Speaking.  — You 
cannot  but  be  convinced  that  a man 
who  speaks  and  writes  with  elegance 
and  grace  ; who  makes  choice  of  good 
words  ; and  adorns  and  embellishes  the 
subject  upon  which  he  either  speaks 
or  writes,  will  persuade  better,  and 
succeed  more  easily  in  obtaining  what 
he  wishes,  than  a man  who  does  not 
explain  himself  clearly ; speaks  his 
language  ill ; or  makes  use  of  low  and 
vulgar  expressions ; and  who  has 
neither  grace  nor  elegance  in  anything 


#4  Selections 


that  he  says.  Now  it  is  by  rhetoric 
that  the  art  of  speaking  eloquently  is 
taught : and,  though  I cannot  think  of 
grounding  you  in  it  as  yet,  I would 
wish,  however,  to  give  you  an  idea  of  it 
suitable  to  your  age.1 

The  first  thing  you  should  attend  to 
is  to  speak  whatever  language  you  do 
speak,  in  its  greatest  purity,  and  ac- 
cording to  the  rules  of  grammar;  for 
we  must  never  offend  against  grammar, 
nor  make  use  of  words  which  are  not 
really  words.  This  is  not  all  ; for  not 
to  speak  ill,  is  not  sufficient ; we  must 

1 In  a previous  letter,  which  has  been  lost, 
Chesterfield  has  been  teaching  rhetoric  to  a boy 
of  about  seven  years  old,  for,  referring  to  it,  he 
says  : “ En  verite  je  crois  que  vous  etes  le  pre- 
mier gargon  a qui,  avant  Vdge  de  huit  ans , on  ait 
jamais  parle  des  figures  de  la  rhetorique,  comme 
j’ai  fait  dans  ma  derniere.” 


12 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  ^ 


speak  well  ; and  the  best  method  of 
attaining  to  that  is  to  read  the  best 
authors  with  attention ; and  to  observe 
how  people  of  fashion  speak,  and  those 
who  express  themselves  best ; for  shop- 
keepers, common  people,  footmen,  and 
maid  servants,  all  speak  ill.  [ Bath , 
Oct.  17,  1739.] 

Oratory.  — The  business  of  ora- 
tory is  to  persuade  people ; and  you 
easily  feel  that  to  please  people  is  a 
great  step  toward  persuading  them. 
You  must,  then,  consequently  be  sen- 
sible how  advantageous  it  is  for  a man 
who  speaks  in  public,  whether  it  be  in 
Parliament,  in  the  pulpit,  or  at  the  bar 
(that  is,  in  the  courts  of  law),  to  please 
his  hearers  so  much  as  to  gain  their 
attention  : which  he  can  never  do  with- 
out the  help  of  oratory.  It  is  not 

13 


tH  Selections 


enough  to  speak  the  language  he  speaks 
in  its  utmost  purity,  and  according  to 
the  rules  of  grammar ; but  he  must 
speak  it  elegantly ; that  is,  he  must 
choose  the  best  and  most  expressive 
words,  and  put  them  in  the  best  order. 
He  should  likewise  adorn  what  he  says 
by  proper  metaphors,  similes,  and  other 
figures  of  rhetoric ; and  he  should 
enliven  it,  if  he  can,  by  quick  and 
sprightly  turns  of  wit.  [ November , 

I739<] 

The  Folly  of  Ignorance.  — An 
ignorant  man  is  insignificant  and  con- 
temptible ; nobody  cares  for  his  com- 
pany, and  he  can  just  be  said  to  live, 
and  that  is  all.  There  is  a very  pretty 
French  epigram  upon  the  death  of  such 
an  ignorant,  insignificant  fellow,  the 
sting  of  which  is  that  all  that  can  be 
14 


Lord  Chesterfield's  Letters  Hr 


said  of  him  is  that  he  was  once  alive, 
and  that  he  is  now  dead.  This  is  the 
epigram,  which  you  may  get  by  heart : 

“ Colas  est  mort  de  maladie, 

Tu  veux  que  j’en  pleure  le  sort, 

Que  diable  veux-tu  que  j’en  dis  ? 

Colas  vivoit,  Colas  est  mort.” 

Take  care  not  to  deserve  the  name 
of  Colas ; 1 which  I shall  certainly  give 
you,  if  you  do  not  learn  well.  [No 
date .] 

The  Reward  of  Virtue.  — If  a 
virtuous  man  be  ever  so  poor  or  un- 
fortunate in  the  world,  still  his  virtue 
is  his  own  reward  and  will  comfort  him 
under  his  afflictions.  The  quiet  and 

1 We  learn  by  a subsequent  reference  that 
the  little  fellow  wished  not  to  be  called  Colas, 
but  Polyglot,  from  knowing  already  three  or 
four  languages. 

15 


Selections 


satisfaction  of  his  conscience  make 
him  cheerful  by  day  and  sleep  sound 
of  nights  ; he  can  be  alone  with  pleas- 
ure and  is  not  afraid  of  his  own 
thoughts.  Besides  this,  he  is  esteemed 
and  respected ; for  even  the  most 
wicked  people  themselves  cannot  help 
admiring  and  respecting  virtue  in  others. 
A poet  says : 

“ Ipsa  quidem  virtus,  sibimet  pulcherrima 
merces.” 1 

Politeness  a Necessity.  — Know, 
then,  that  as  learning,  honour,  and 

1 So  also  Home : 

“ Amen  ! and  virtue  is  its  own  reward.” 

— Douglas , Act  iii.  Sc.  I. 

And  Claudian,  quoted  by  Chesterfield, 

“ Ipsa  quidem  virtus  pretium  sibi,  solaque  late 
Fortunae  secura  nitet,”  etc. 

16 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


virtue  are  absolutely  necessary  to  gain 
you  the  esteem  and  admiration  of  man- 
kind, politeness  and  good  breeding  are 
equally  necessary,  to  make  you  wel- 
come and  agreeable  in  conversation, 
and  common  life.  Great  talents,  such 
as  honour,  virtue,  learning,  and  parts, 
are  above  the  generality  of  the  world ; 
who  neither  possess  them  themselves, 
nor  judge  of  them  rightly  in  others  : 
but  all  people  are  judges  of  the  lesser 
talents,  such  as  civility,  affability,  and 
an  obliging,  agreeable  address  and 
manner;  because  they  feel  the  good 
effects  of  them,  as  making  society  easy 
and  pleasing. 

Youthful  Emulation.  — This  is 
the  last  letter  I shall  write  to  you  as  to 
a little  boy ; for,  to-morrow,  if  I am 
not  mistaken,  you  will  attain  your 
1 7 


Selections 


ninth  year ; so  that  for  the  future,  I 
shall  treat  you  as  a youth.  You  must 
now  commence  a different  course  of 
life,  a different  course  of  studies.  No 
more  levity ; childish  toys  and  play- 
things must  be  thrown  aside,  and  your 
mind  directed  to  serious  objects.  What 
was  not  unbecoming  of  a child  would 
be  disgraceful  to  a youth.  Wherefore, 
endeavour,  with  all  your  might,  to  show 
a suitable  change ; and,  by  learning, 
good  manners,  politeness,  and  other 
accomplishments,  to  surpass  those 
youths  of  your  own  age,  whom 
hitherto  you  have  surpassed  when 
boys.1  May  the  Almighty  preserve 

1 Written  in  Latin.  Philippus  Chesterfield, 
Philippo  Stanhope  adhuc  puerulo , sed  eras  e 
pueritid  egressuro.  S.  D.  Dated,  Kalend,  Maii, 
1741. 

18 


Lord  Chesterfield's  Letters  f# 


you  and  bestow  on  you  his  choicest 
blessings. 

Manner  — Absence  — Awkward- 
ness — Attention.  — However  tri- 
fling a genteel  manner  may  sound,  it 
is  of  very  great  consequence  toward 
pleasing  in  private  life,  especially  the 
women  ; which  (j/V),  one  time  or  other, 
you  will  think  worth  pleasing  : and  I 
have  known  many  a man,  from  his 
awkwardness,  give  people  such  a dislike 
of  him  at  first,  that  all  his  merit  could 
not  get  the  better  of  it  afterward. 
Whereas  a genteel  manner  prepossesses 
people  in  your  favour,  bends  them 
towards  you,  and  makes  them  wish  to 
like  you.  Awkwardness  can  proceed 
but  from  two  causes ; either  from  not 
having  kept  good  company,  or  from  not 
having  attended  to  it.  As  for  your 
i9 


Selections 


keeping  good  company,  I will  take  care 
of  that ; do  you  take  care  to  observe 
their  ways  and  manners,  and  to  form 
your  own  upon  them.  Attention  is 
absolutely  necessary  for  this,  as  indeed  it 
is  for  everything  else ; and  a man 
without  attention  is  not  fit  to  live  in 
the  world.  When  an  awkward  fellow 
first  comes  into  a room,  it  is  highly 
probable  that  his  sword  gets  between 
his  legs,  and  throws  him  down,  or 
makes  him  stumble  at  least ; when  he 
has  recovered  this  accident,  he  goes  and 
places  himself  in  the  very  place  of  the 
whole  room  where  he  should  not  ; there 
he  soon  lets  his  hat  fall  down,  and,  in 
taking  it  up  again,  throws  down  his 
cane ; in  recovering  his  cane,  his  hat 
falls  a second  time ; so  that  he  is  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  before  he  is  in  order 


20 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


again.  If  he  drinks  tea  or  coffee,  he 
certainly  scalds  his  mouth,  and  lets 
either  the  cup  or  the  saucer  fall,  and 
spills  the  tea  or  coffee  in  his  breeches.  N 
At  dinner,  his  awkwardness  distin- 
guishes itself  particularly,  as  he  has 
more  to  do ; there  he  holds  his  knife, 
fork,  and  spoon  differently  from  other 
people ; eats  with  his  knife  to  the  great 
danger  of  his  mouth,  picks  his  teeth 
with  his  fork,  and  puts  his  spoon,  which 
has  been  in  his  throat  twenty  times,  into 
the  dishes  again.  If  he  is  to  carve,  he 
can  never  hit  the  joint ; but,  in  his  vain 
efforts  to  cut  through  the  bone,  scatters 
the  sauce  in  everybody’s  face.  He 
generally  daubs  himself  with  soup  and 
grease,  though  his  napkin  is  commonly 
stuck  through  a buttonhole,  and  tickles 
his  chin.  When  he  drinks,  he  infalli- 


21 


Selections 


bly  coughs  in  his  glass,  and  besprinkles 
the  company.  Besides  all  this,  he  has 
strange  tricks  and  gestures ; such  as 
snuffing  up  his  nose,  making  faces,  put- 
ting his  fingers  in  his  nose,  or  blowing 
it  and  looking  afterward  in  his  hand- 
kerchief, so  as  to  make  the  company 
sick.  His  hands  are  troublesome  to 
him,  when  he  has  not  something  in 
them,  and  he  does  not  know  where  to 
put  them ; but  they  are  in  perpetual 
motion  between  his  bosom  and  his 
breeches  ; he  does  not  wear  his  clothes, 
and,  in  short,  does  nothing  like  other 
people.  All  this,  I own,  is  not  in  any 
degree  criminal ; but  it  is  highly  disa- 
greeable and  ridiculous  in  company,  and 
ought  most  carefully  to  be  avoided  by 
whoever  desires  to  please. 

From  this  account  of  what  you 


22 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


should  not  do,  you  may  easily  judge 
what  you  should  do  ; and  a due  atten- 
tion to  the  manners  of  people  of  fashion, 
and  who  have  seen  the  world,  will  make 
it  habitual  and  familiar  to  you. 

There  is,  likewise,  an  awkwardness 
of  expression  and  words,  most  carefully 
to  be  avoided ; such  as  false  English, 
bad  pronunciation,  old  sayings,  and 
common  proverbs ; which  are  so  many 
proofs  of  having  kept  bad  and  low  com- 
pany. For  example  : if,  instead  of  say- 
ing that  tastes  are  different,  and  that 
every  man  has  his  own  peculiar  one, 
you  should  let  off  a proverb,  and  say 
that  “ what  is  one  man’s  meat  is  an- 
other man’s  poison  or  else,  u Every 
one  as  they  like,  as  the  good  man  said 
when  he  kissed  his  cow everybody 
would  be  persuaded  that  you  had  never 

23 


#4  Selections 


kept  company  with  anybody  above  foot- 
men and  housemaids. 

Attention  will  do  all  this ; and  with- 
out attention  nothing  is  to  be  done ; 
want  of  attention,  which  is  really  want 
of  thought,  is  either  folly  or  madness. 
You  should  not  only  have  attention  to 
everything,  but  a quickness  of  attention, 
so  as  to  observe,  at  once,  all  the  people 
in  the  room  ; their  motions,  their  looks, 
and  their  words ; and  yet  without  star- 
ing at  them,  and  seeming  to  be  an  ob- 
server. This  quick  and  unobserved 
observation  is  of  infinite  advantage  in 
life,  and  is  to  be  acquired  with  care ; 
and,  on  the  contrary,  what  is  called  ab- 
sence, which  is  a thoughtlessness  and 
want  of  attention  about  what  is  doing, 
makes  a man  so  like  either  a fool  or  a 
madman,  that,  for  my  part,  I see  no  real 
24 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


difference.  A fool  never  has  thought, 
a madman  has  lost  it ; and  an  absent 
man  is,  for  the  time,  without  it.1 2 
[ Dated  Spa , July  25,  N.  S.  1741.] 
Keep  Your  Word.  — I am  sure  you 
know  that  breaking  of  your  word  is  a 
folly,  a dishonour,  and  a crime.  It  is 
folly,  because  nobody  will  trust  you  af- 
terward > and  it  is  both  a dishonour 
and  a crime,  truth  being  the  first  duty 
of  religion  and  morality  : and  whoever 
has  not  truth  cannot  be  supposed  to 
have  any  one  good  quality,  and  must 

1 In  the  compilation  called  “ Lord  Chester- 
field’s Maxims,”  wherein  part  of  this  letter  is 
given,  all  the  characteristic  points  are  left  out. 
Thus,  where  Chesterfield  reminds  his  son  that 
manner  is  of  consequence  in  pleasing,  especially 
the  women , the  purist  has  excised  the  words 
in  italics.  In  the  Remarque  editions  the  very 
words  of  the  authors  are  scrupulously  given. 

25 


#4  Selections 


become  the  detestation  of  God  and 
man.  Therefore,  I expect,  from  your 
truth  and  your  honour,  that  you  will 
do  that  which,  independently  of  your 
promise,  your  own  interest  and  ambi- 
tion ought  to  incline  you  to  do ; that 
is,  to  excel  in  everything  you  under- 
take. When  I was  of  your  age,  I 
should  have  been  ashamed  if  any  boy 
of  that  age  had  learned  his  book  better, 
or  played  at  any  play  better  than  I did  ; 
and  I would  not  have  rested  a moment 
till  I had  got  before  him.  Julius  Cae- 
sar, who  had  a noble  thirst  of  glory, 
used  to  say  that  he  would  rather  be  the 
first  in  a village,  than  the  second  in 
Rome ; and  he  even  cried  when  he  saw 
the  statue  of  Alexander  the  Great,  with 
the  reflection  of  how  much  more  glory 
Alexander  had  acquired,  at  thirty  years 
26 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


old,  than  he  at  a much  more  advanced 
age.  These  are  the  sentiments  to  make 
people  considerable ; and  those  who 
have  them  not  will  pass  their  lives  in 
obscurity  and  contempt ; whereas  those 
who  endeavour  to  excel  all,  are  at  least 
sure  of  excelling  a great  many.  [June^ 
1742.] 

Good  Breeding.  — Though  I need 
not  tell  one  of  your  age,1  experience, 
and  knowledge  of  the  world  how  nec- 
essary good  breeding  is,  to  recommend 
one  to  mankind ; yet,  as  your  various 
occupations  of  Greek  and  cricket,  Latin 
and  pitch-farthing,  may  possibly  divert 
your  attention  from  this  object,  I take 
the  liberty  of  reminding  you  of  it,  and 
desiring  you  to  be  very  well-bred  at 

1 His  lordship’s  badinage,  or  it  may  be  sar- 
casm, which  the  little  boy  quickly  perceived. 

27 


#4  Selections 


Lord  Orrery’s.  It  is  good  breeding 
alone  that  can  prepossess  people  in  your 
favour  at  first  sight ; more  time  being 
necessary  to  discover  greater  talents. 
This  good  breeding,  you  know,  does 
not  consist  in  low  bows  and  formal 
ceremony ; but  in  an  easy,  civil,  and 
respectful  behaviour.  You  will  there- 
fore take  care  to  answer  with  com- 
plaisance, when  you  are  spoken  to ; 
to  place  yourself  at  the  lower  end  of 
the  table,  unless  bid  to  go  higher  ; 
to  drink  first  to  the  lady  of  the  house, 
and  next  to  the  master;  not  to  eat 
awkwardly  or  dirtily ; not  to  sit  when 
others  stand  ; and  to  do  all  this  with 
an  air  of  complaisance,  and  not  with 
a grave,  sour  look,  as  if  you  did  it 
at  all  unwillingly.  [iVi?  date , Letter 
7°.] 


28 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


Letter  Writing.  — Let  your  let- 
ter be  written  as  accurately  as  you  are 
able  — I mean  with  regard  to  language, 
grammar,  and  stops  ; for  as  to  the  matter 
of  it  the  less  trouble  you  give  yourself 
the  better  it  will  be.  Letters  should 
be  easy  and  natural,  and  convey  to  the 
persons  to  whom  we  send  them,  just 
what  we  should  say  to  the  persons  if  we 
were  with  them.  \_No  date.  Letter  72.] 
Dancing  Trifling.  — Dancing  is 
in  itself  a very  trifling,  silly  thing ; but 
it  is  one  of  those  established  follies  to 
which  people  of  sense  are  sometimes 
obliged  to  conform ; and  then  they 
should  be  able  to  do  it  well.  And, 
though  I would  not  have  you  a dancer, 
yet,  when  you  do  dance,  I would  have 
you  dance  well,  as  I would  have  you  do 
everything  you  do,  well.  There  is  no 
29 


tH  Selections 


one  thing  so  trifling,  but  which  (if  it  is 
to  be  done  at  all)  ought  to  be  done 
well.  And  I have  often  told  you  that 
I wished  you  even  played  at  pitch,  and 
cricket,  better  than  any  boy  at  West- 
minster. For  instance  : dress  is  a very 
foolish  thing  ; and  yet  it  is  a very  fool- 
ish thing  for  a man  not  to  be  well 
dressed,  according  to  his  rank  and  way 
of  life ; and  it  is  so  far  from  being  a 
disparagement  to  any  man’s  understand- 
ing, that  it  is  rather  a proof  of  it,  to  be 
as  well  dressed  as  those  whom  he  lives 
with  : the  difference  in  this  case  be- 
tween a man  of  sense  and  a fop  is,  that 
the  fop  values  himself  upon  his  dress  ; 
and  the  man  of  sense  laughs  at  it,  at  the 
same  time  that  he  knows  he  must  not 
neglect  it ; there  are  a thousand  foolish 
customs  of  this  kind,  which  not  being 

30 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hf 


criminal  must  be  complied  with,  and 
even  cheerfully,  by  men  of  sense.  Di- 
ogenes the  cynic  was  a wise  man  for 
despising  them,  but  a fool  for  showing 
it.  Be  wiser  than  other  people  if  you 
can,  but  do  not  tell  them  so.  \_Dublin 
Castle  Nov . 19,  1745.1] 

The  Well-bred  Man  — Feels  him- 
self firm  and  easy  in  all  companies  $ 
is  modest  without  being  bashful,  and 
steady  without  being  impudent : if  he 
is  a stranger,  he  observes,  with  care, 
the  manners  and  ways  of  the  people 
the  most  esteemed  at  that  place,  and 
conforms  to  them  with  complaisance. 
Instead  of  finding  fault  with  the  cus- 
toms of  that  place,  and  telling  the 
people  that  the  English  ones  are  a 
thousand  times  better  (as  my  country- 
1 His  lordship  was  then  Viceroy  of  Ireland. 

31 


?H  Selections 


men  are  very  apt  to  do),  he  commends 
their  table,  their  dress,  their  houses, 
and  their  manners,  a little  more,  it 
may  be,  than  he  really  thinks  they 
deserve.  But  this  degree  of  complais- 
ance is  neither  criminal  nor  abject, 
and  is  but  a small  price  to  pay  for  the 
good  will  and  affection  of  the  people 
you  converse  with.  As  the  generality 
of  people  are  weak  enough  to  be  pleased 
with  these  little  things,  those  who 
refuse  to  please  them,  so  cheaply,  are, 
in  my  mind,  weaker  than  they.  [ Same 
month , O.  5.,  1746.] 

“ L’Art  de  Plaire.”  — There  is  a 
very  pretty  little  French  book,  written 
by  L’Abbe  de  Bellegarde,  entitled 
“ V Art  de  Plaire  dans  la  Conversation  ; ” 1 

1 A good-natured  but  somewhat  silly  book,  in 
which  M.  L’Abbe  instructs  certain  young  ladies 
32 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


and,  though  I confess  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  reduce  the  art  of  pleasing  to 
a system,  yet  this  principle  I will  lay 
down,  that  the  desire  of  pleasing  is 
at  least  half  the  art  of  doing  it ; the 
rest  depends  only  upon  the  manner 
which  attention,  observation,  and  fre- 
quenting good  company  will  teach. 
But  if  you  are  lazy,  careless,  and 
indifferent  whether  you  please  or  not, 
depend  upon  it  you  never  will  please. 
[ Same  date.~\ 

Introspection.  — You  must  look 
into  people,  as  well  as  at  them.  Almost 
all  people  are  born  with  all  the  passions, 
to  a certain  degree ; but  almost  every 
man  has  a prevailing  one,  to  which  the 
others  are  ordinate.  Search  every 

and  gentlemen  by  the  means  of  sundry  conver- 
sations and  reflections. 


33 


Selections 


one  for  that  ruling  passion ; pry  into 
the  recesses  of  his  heart,  and  observe 
the  different  workings  of  the  same  pas- 
sion in  different  people.  And,  when  you 
have  found  out  the  prevailing  passion 
of  any  man,  remember  never  to  trust 
him,  where  that  passion  is  concerned. 
Work  upon  him  by  it,  if  you  please  ; 
but  be  upon  your  guard  yourself  against 
it,  whatever  professions  he  may  make 
you.  [. November , 1746.] 

How  to  Dress.  — Take  great  care 
always  to  be  dressed  like  the  reasonable 
people  of  your  own  age,  in  the  place 
where  you  are ; whose  dress  is  never 
spoken  of  one  way  or  another,  as 
either  too  negligent  or  too  much 
studied.  \Same  date.~\ 

Absent  People.  — What  is  com- 
monly called  an  absent  man  is 
34 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters 


commonly  either  a very  weak  or  a very 
affected  man  ; but  be  he  which  he 
will,  he  is,  I am  sure,  a very  disagreeable 
man  in  company.  He  fails  in  all  the 
common  offices  of  civility  ; he  seems 
not  to  know  those  people  to-day,  with 
whom  yesterday  he  appeared  to  live 
in  intimacy.  He  takes  no  part  in 
the  general  conversation ; but,  on  the 
contrary,  breaks  into  it,  from  time  to 
time,  with  some  start  of  his  own,  as 
if  he  waked  from  a dream.  This  (as 
I said  before)  is  a sure  indication, 
either  of  a mind  so  weak  that  it  is 
not  able  to  bear  above  one  object 
at  a time  ; or  so  affected,  that  it  would 
be  supposed  to  be  wholly  engrossed  by, 
and  directed  to,  some  very  great  and 
important  objects.  Sir  Isaac  Newton, 
Mr.  Locke,  and  (it  may  be)  five  or 
35 


tH  Selections 


six  more,  since  the  creation  of  the 
world,  may  have  had  a right  to  absence, 
from  that  intense  thought  which  the 
things  they  were  investigating  required. 
But  if  a young  man,  and  a man  of 
the  world,  who  has  no  such  avocations 
to  plead,  will  claim  and  exercise  that 
right  of  absence  in  company,  his  pre- 
tended right  should,  in  my  mind,  be 
turned  into  an  involuntary  absence,  by 
his  perpetual  exclusion  out  of  company. 
[Ibid.] 

Flattery.  — Most  people  (I  might 
say  all  people)  have  their  weaknesses  ; 
they  have  their  aversions  and  their 
likings,  to  such  and  such  things ; so 
that,  if  you  were  to  laugh  at  a man 
for  his  aversion  to  a cat,  or  cheese 
(which  are  common  antipathies),  or, 
by  inattention  and  negligence,  to  let 
36 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


them  come  in  his  way,  where  you 
could  prevent  it,  he  would,  in  the  first 
case,  think  himself  insulted,  and,  in 
the  second,  slighted  ; and  would  remem- 
ber both.  Whereas  your  care  to 
procure  for  him  what  he  likes,  and 
to  remove  from  him  what  he  hates, 
shows  him  that  he  is  at  least  an  object 
of  your  attention  ; flatters  his  vanity, 
and  makes  him  possibly  more  your 
friend  than  a more  important  service 
would  have  done.  With  regard  to 
women,  attentions  still  below  these  are 
necessary,  and,  by  the  custom  of  the 
world,  in  some  measure  due,  according 
to  the  laws  of  good  breeding. 

Employment  of  Time. — I hope 
you  employ  your  whole  time,  which 
few  people  do ; and  that  you  put  every 
moment  to  profit  of  some  kind  or 
37 


tH  Selections 


other.  I call  company,  walking,  riding, 
etc.,  employing  one’s  time,  and,  upon 
proper  occasions,  very  usefully ; but 
what  I cannot  forgive,  in  anybody,  is 
sauntering,  and  doing  nothing  at  all 
with  a thing  so  precious  as  time,  and 
so  irrecoverable  when  lost.  \P  ec.  9,0. 

s~>  1746.] 

Virtue  and  Gold.  — Virtue  and 
learning,  like  gold,  have  their  intrinsic 
value ; but  if  they  are  not  polished, 
they  certainly  lose  a great  deal  of  their 
lustre  : and  even  polished  brass  will  pass 
upon  more  people  than  rough  gold. 
What  a number  of  sins  does  the  cheer- 
ful, easy  good  breeding  of  the  French 
frequently  cover  ? Many  of  them  want 
common  sense,  many  more  common 
learning ; but,  in  general,  they  make 
up  so  much  by  their  manner  for  these 
38 


Lord  Chesterfield's  Letters 


defects,  that,  frequently,  they  pass  un- 
discovered. I have  often  said,  and  do 
think,  that  a Frenchman,  who,  with  a 
fund  of  virtue,  learning,  and  good  sense, 
has  the  manners  and  good  breeding  of 
his  country,  is  the  perfection  of  human 
nature.  \March,  1747.] 

Gambling.  — The  same  as  to  gam- 
ing. I did  not  want  money  ; and,  con- 
sequently, had  no  occasion  to  play  for 
it ; but  I thought  play  another  neces- 
sary ingredient  in  the  composition  of 
a man  of  pleasure,  and  accordingly  I 
plunged  into  it,  without  desire,  at  first ; 
sacrificed  a thousand  real  pleasures  to 
it ; and  made  myself  solidly  uneasy  by 
it,  for  thirty  the  best  years  of  my  life. 

I was  even  absurd  enough,  for  a little 
while,  to  swear,  by  way  of  adorning  and 
completing  the  shining  character  which 
39 


/r> 


Selections 


I affected ; but  this  folly  I soon  laid 
aside  upon  finding  both  the  guilt  and 
indecency  of  it. 

Thus  seduced  by  fashion,  and  blindly 
adopting  nominal  pleasures,  I lost  real 
ones ; and  my  fortune  impaired,  and 
my  constitution  shattered,  are,  I must 
confess,  the  just  punishment  of  my 
errors. 

Take  warning,  then,  by  them  ; choose 
your  pleasures  for  yourself,  and  do  not 
let  them  be  imposed  upon  you.  Follow 
nature,  and  not  fashion  ; weigh  the 
present  enjoyment  of  your  pleasures, 
against  the  necessary  consequences  of 
them,  and  then  let  your  own  common 
sense  determine  your  choice.  \March 

27>  I747-] 

Personal  Cleanliness.  — As  you 
must  attend  to  your  manners,  so  you 
40 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


must  not  neglect  your  person  ; but  take 
care  to  be  very  clean,  well  dressed,  and 
genteel ; to  have  no  disagreeable  atti- 
tudes, nor  awkward  tricks  ; which  many 
people  use  themselves  to,  and  then  can- 
not leave  them  off.  Do  ,you  take  care 
to  keep  your  teeth  very  clean,  by  wash- 
ing them  constantly  every  morning,  and 
after  every  me  d ? This  is  very  neces- 
sary, both  to  preserve  your  teeth  a great 
while,  and  to  save  you  a great  deal  of 
pain.  Mine  have  plagued  me  long, 
and  are  now  falling  out,  merely  for 
want  of  care  when  I was  of  your  age. 
Do  you  dress  well,  and  not  too  well  ? 
Do  you  consider  your  air  and  manner 
of  presenting  yourself,  enough,  and  not 
too  much  ? neither  negligent  nor  stiff. 
All  these  things  deserve  a degree  of 
care,  a second-rate  attention  ; they  give 
41 


W;  Selections 


an  additional  lustre  to  real  merit.  My 
Lord  Bacon  says  that  a pleasing  figure 
is  a perpetual  letter  of  recommendation. 
It  is  certainly  an  agreeable  forerunner 
of  merit,  and  smooths  the  way  for  it. 
[July  30,  1747.] 

Lying.  — I really  know  nothing 
more  criminal,  more  mean,  and  more 
ridiculous,  than  lying.  It  is  the  pro- 
duction either  of  malice,  cowardice,  or 
vanity  ; and  generally  misses  of  its  aim 
in  every  one  of  these  views ; for  lies 
are  always  detected,  sooner  or  later. 
If  I tell  a malicious  lie,  in  order  to  af- 
fect any  man’s  fortune  or  character,  I 
may  indeed  injure  him  for  some  time, 
but  I shall  be  sure  to  be  the  greatest 
sufferer  myself  at  last ; for  as  soon  as 
ever  I am  detected  (and  detected  I most 
certainly  shall  be),  I am  blasted  for  the 
42 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  He 


infamous  attempt ; and  whatever  is  said 
afterward,  to  the  disadvantage  of  that 
person,  however  true,  passes  for  cal- 
umny. If  I lie,  or  equivocate,  for  it  is 
the  same  thing,  in  order  to  excuse  my- 
self for  something  that  I have  said  or 
done,  and  to  avoid  the  danger  or  the 
shame  that  I apprehend  from  it,  I dis- 
cover at  once  my  fear,  as  well  as  my 
falsehood  ; and  only  increase,  instead  of 
avoiding  the  danger  and  the  shame  ; I 
show  myself  to  be  the  lowest  and  the 
meanest  of  mankind,  and  am  sure  to  be 
always  treated  as  such.  Remember  as 
long  as  you  live,  that  nothing  but  strict 
truth  can  carry  you  through  the  world 
with  either  your  conscience  or  your 
honour  unwounded.  It  is  not  only 
your  duty,  but  your  interest ; as  a proof 
of  which,  you  may  always  observe  that 
43 


Selections 


the  greatest  fools  are  the  greatest  liars ; 
For  my  own  part,  I judge  of  every 
man’s  truth  by  his  degree  of  under- 
standing. [Sept.  21,  1747.] 

Good  Breeding.  — Civility,  which 
is  a disposition  to  accommodate  and 
oblige  others,  is  essentially  the  same  in 
every  country  ; but  good  breeding,  as  it 
is  called,  which  is  the  manner  of  exert- 
ing that  disposition,  is  different  in  almost 
every  country,  and  merely  local ; and 
every  man  of  sense  imitates  and  con- 
forms to  that  local  good  breeding  of 
the  place  which  he  is  at.  A conformity 
and  flexibility  of  manners  is  necessary 
in  the  course  of  the  world;  that  is, 
with  regard  to  all  things  which  are  not 
wrong  in  themselves.  The  versatile 
ingenium  is  the  most  useful  of  all.  It 
can  turn  itself  instantly  from  one  ob- 


44 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


ject  to  another,  assuming  the  proper 
manner  for  each.  It  can  be  serious 
with  the  grave,  cheerful  with  the  gay, 
and  trifling  with  the  frivolous.  En- 
deavour, by  all  means,  to  acquire  this 
talent,  for  it  is  a very  great  one.  [Oct. 

2>  I747-] 

Good  Company.  — There  are  two 
sorts  of  good  company  ; one,  which  is 
called  the  beau  monde , and  consists  of 
those  people  who  have  the  lead  in 
courts,  and  in  the  gay  part  of  life ; the 
other  consists  of  those  who  are  distin- 
guished by  some  peculiar  merit,  or  who 
excel  in  some  particular  and  valuable 
art  or  science.  For  my  own  part,  I 
used  to  think  myself  in  company  as 
much  above  me,  when  I was  with  Mr. 
Addison  and  Mr.  Pope,  as  if  I had  been 
with  all  the  princes  in  Europe.  What 
45 


#4  Selections 


I mean  by  low  company,  which  should 
by  all  means  be  avoided,  is  the  company 
of  those,  who,  absolutely  insignificant 
and  contemptible  in  themselves,  think 
they  are  honoured  by  being  in  your 
company,  and  who  flatter  every  vice 
and  every  folly  you  have,  in  order  to 
engage  you  to  converse  with  them. 
The  pride  of  being  the  first  of  the  com- 
pany is  but  too  common ; but  it  is  very 
silly,  and  very  prejudicial.  Nothing  in 
the  world  lets  down  a character  more 
than  that  wrong  turn. 

You  may  possibly  ask  me,  whether  a 
man  has  it  always  in  his  power  to  get 
into  the  best  company  ? and  how  ? I 
say,  yes,  he  has,  by  deserving  it ; pro- 
vided he  is  but  in  circumstances  which 
enable  him  to  appear  upon  the  footing 
of  a gentleman.  Merit  and  good  breed- 
46 


Lord  Chesterfield's  Letters  Hr 


ing  will  make  their  way  everywhere. 
Knowledge  will  introduce  him,  and 
good  breeding  will  endear  him  to  the 
best  companies  ; for,  as  I have  often 
told  you,  politeness  and  good  breeding 
are  absolutely  necessary  to  adorn  any, 
or  all,  other  good  qualities  or  talents. 
Without  them,  no  knowledge,  no  per- 
fection whatsoever,  is  seen  in  its  best 
light.  The  scholar,  without  good  breed- 
ing, is  a pedant ; the  philosopher,  a 
cynic ; the  soldier,  a brute ; and  every 
man  disagreeable.  [Oct.  9,  1747.] 
Busy  Idleness.  — There  are  a great 
many  people,  who  think  themselves  em- 
ployed all  day,  and  who,  if  they  were 
to  cast  up  their  accounts  at  night, 
would  find  that  they  had  done  just 
nothing.  They  have  read  two  or  three 
hours,  mechanically,  without  attending 
47 


Selections 


to  what  they  read,  and,  consequently, 
without  either  retaining  it  or  reasoning 
upon  it.  From  thence  they  saunter 
into  company,  without  taking  any  part 
in  it,  and  without  observing  the  charac- 
ters of  the  persons,  or  the  subjects  of 
the  conversation  ; but  are  either  think- 
ing of  some  trifle,  foreign  to  the  pres- 
ent purpose,  or,  often,  not  thinking  at 
all  ; which  silly  and  idle  suspension  of 
thought  they  would  dignify  with  the 
name  of  absence  and  distraction.  They 
go  afterward,  it  may  be,  to  the  play, 
where  they  gape  at  the  company  and 
the  lights ; but  without  minding  the 
very  thing  they  went  to,  the  play. 
[Oct.  30,  1747.] 

Action  ! Action  ! — Remember  the 
hoc  age  : do  what  you  are  about,  be  that 
what  it  will ; it  is  either  worth  doing 

48 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 

well,  or  not  at  all.  Wherever  you 
are,  have  (as  the  low,  vulgar  expression 
is)  your  ears  and  your  eyes  about  you. 
Listen  to  everything  that  is  said,  and 
see  everything  that  is  done.  Observe 
the  looks  and  countenances  of  those 
who  speak,  which  is  often  a surer  way 
of  discovering  the  truth,  than  from 
what  they  say.  [ Same  date .] 

Value  of  Time.  — I knew,  once,  a 
very  covetous,  sordid  fellow,  who  used 
frequently  to  say,  “Take  care  of  the 
pence,  for  the  pounds  will  take  care  of 
themselves.”  This  was  a just  and  sen- 
sible reflection  in  a miser.  I recom- 
mend to  you  to  take  care  of  minutes  ; 
for  hours  will  take  care  of  themselves. 
I am  very  sure  that  many  people  lose 
two  or  three  hours  every  day,  by  not 
taking  care  of  the  minutes.  Never 
49 


#4  Selections 


think  any  portion  of  time,  whatsoever, 
too  short  to  oe  employed  ; something  or 
other  may  always  be  done  in  it.  [Nov. 
6,  1747.] 

The  Time  to  Learn.  — Remember 
that  whatever  knowledge  you  do  not 
solidly  lay  the  foundation  of  before  you 
are  eighteen,  you  will  never  be  master  of 
while  you  breathe.  [ Dec . 11,  1747.] 

Knowledge. — Knowledge  is  a com- 
fortable and  necessary  retreat  and  shel- 
ter for  us  in  an  advanced  age ; and  if 
we  do  not  plant  it  while  young,  it  will 
give  us  no  shade  when  we  grow  old. 
[Same  date.] 

Polish.  — Now,  though  I would  not 
recommend  to  you,  to  go  into  women’s 
company  in  search  of  solid  knowledge 
or  judgment,  yet  it  has  its  use  in  other 
respects ; for  it  certainly  polishes  the 

50 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


manners,  and  gives  une  certain  tournure , 
which  is  very  necessary  in  the  course  of 
the  world,  and  which  Englishmen  have 
generally  less  of  than  any  people  in  the 
world.  [Jan.  2,  1748.] 

Thoroughness. — Whatever  you  do, 
do  it  to  the  purpose ; do  it  thoroughly, 
not  superficially.  Go  to  the  bottom 
of  things.  Anything  half  done,  or 
half  known,  is,  in  my  mind,  neither 
done  nor  known  at  all.  Nay,  worse, 
for  it  often  misleads.  There  is  hardly 
any  place,  or  any  company,  where  you 
may  not  gain  knowledge,  if  you  please ; 
almost  everybody  knows  some  one 
thing,  and  is  glad  to  talk  upon  that 
one  thing.  \Feb.  16,  1748-] 

Proper  Inquisitiveness.  — Seek,  and 
you  will  find,  in  this  world,  as  well 
as  in  the  next.  See  everything,  inquire 
51 


u,  OF  ILL  LIB. 


##  Selections 


into  everything;  and  you  may  excuse 
your  curiosity  and  the  questions  you 
ask,  which  otherwise  might  be  thought 
impertinent,  by  your  manner  of  asking 
them ; for  most  things  depend  a great 
deal  upon  the  manner.  As,  for  exam- 
ple, I am  afraid  that  I am  very  trouble- 
some with  my  questions ; but  nobody  can 
inform  me  so  well  as  you ; or  something 
of  that  kind.  \Same  date.~\ 

Religion  to  Be  Respected.  — But 
when  you  frequent  places  of  public 
worship,  as  I would  have  you  go  to 
all  the  different  ones  you  meet  with, 
remember,  that,  however  erroneous, 
they  are  none  of  them  objects  of  laugh- 
ter and  ridicule.  Honest  error  is  to 
be  pitied,  not  ridiculed.  The  object 
of  all  the  public  worships  in  the 
world  is  the  same ; it  is  that  great 
52 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


eternal  Being  who  created  everything. 
The  different  manners  of  worship  are 
by  no  means  subjects  of  ridicule. 
Each  sect  thinks  its  own  the  best; 
and  I know  no  infallible  judge,  in  this 
world,  to  decide  which  is  the  best. 
[Same  date.~\ 

Use  a Note-book.  — Make  the 
same  inquiries,  wherever  you  are,  con- 
cerning the  revenues,  the  military 
establishment,  the  trade,  the  commerce, 
and  the  police  of  every  country. 
And  you  would  do  well  to  keep  a 
blank  paper  book,  which  the  Germans 
call  an  album  ; and  there,  instead  of 
desiring,  as  they  do,  every  fool  they 
meet  with  to  scribble  something,  write 
down  all  these  things,  as  soon  as  they 
come  to  your  knowledge  from  good 
authorities.  [Same  date.~\ 

53 


Selections 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Care.  — I 
have  now  but  one  anxiety  left,  which  is, 
concerning  you.  I would  have  you 
be,  what  I know  nobody  is,  perfect. 
As  that  is  impossible,  I would  have  you 
as  near  perfection  as  possible.  I know 
nobody  in  a fairer  way  toward  it  than 
yourself,  if  you  please.  Never  were 
so  much  pains  taken  for  anybody’s 
education  as  for  yours  ; and  never  had 
anybody  those  opportunities  of  knowl- 
edge and  improvement  which  you 
have  had,  and  still  have.  I hope,  I 
wish,  I doubt,  and  I fear  alternately. 
This  only  I am  sure  of,  that  you  will 
prove  either  the  greatest  pain,  or  the 
greatest  pleasure  of,  yours  always  truly. 
\Same  date. ] 

/*How  “ to  Wear”  Learning.  — 
/ 

/Wear  your  learning,  like  your  watch, 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters 


in  a private  pocket ; and  do  not  pull 
it  out  and  strike  it,  merely  to  show 
that  you  have  one.  If  you  are  asked 
what  o’clock  it  is,  tell  it,  but  do  not 
proclaim  it  hourly  and  unasked,  like 
the  watchman.  \Feb . 22,  1748.]  / 

The  Folly  of  Laughter. — Hav- 
ing mentioned  laughing,  I must  particu- 
larly warn  you  against  it ; and  I could 
heartily  wish  that  you  may  often  be 
seen  to  smile,  but  never  heard  to  laugh, 
while  you  live.  Frequent  and  loud 
laughter  is  the  characteristic , of  folly 
and  ill  manners  : it  is  the  manner  in 
which  the  mob  express  their  silly  joy, 
at  silly  things ; and  they  call  it  being 
merry.  In  my  mind,  there  is  nothing 
so  illiberal  and  so  ill-bred,  as  audible 
laughter.  True  wit,  or  sense,  never 
yet  made  anybody  laugh ; they  are 


tH  Selections 


above  it : they  please  the  mind,  and 
give  a cheerfulness  to  the  countenance. 
But  it  is  low  buffoonery,  or  silly  ac- 
cidents, that  always  excite  laughter; 
and  that  is  what  people  of  sense  and 
breeding  should  show  themselves  above. 
A man’s  going  to  sit  down,  in  the 
supposition  that  he  has  a chair  behind 
him,  and  falling  down  upon  his  breech 
for  want  of  one,  sets  a whole  company 
a-laughing,  when  all  the  wit  in  the 
world  would  not  do  it ; a plain  proof, 
in  my  mind,  how  low  and  unbecom- 
ing a thing  laughter  is.  Not  to  mention 
the  disagreeble  noise  it  makes,  and  the 
shocking  distortion  of  the  face  that 
it  occasions.  Laughter  is  easily  re- 
strained, by  a very  little  reflection  ; but, 
as  it  is  generally  connected  with  the  idea 
of  gaiety,  people  do  not  enough  attend 
56 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


to  its  absurdity.  I am  neither  of  a 
melancholy,  nor  a cynical  disposition, 
and  am  as  willing  and  as  apt  to  be 
pleased  as  anybody  ; but  I am  sure 
that,  since  I have  had  the  full  use  of 
my  reason,  nobody  has  ever  heard  me 
laugh.  [ March  9,  1748  ] 

The  Mind.  — It  requires,  also,  a 
great  deal  of  exercise,  to  bring  it  to  a 
state  of  health  and  vigour.  Observe 
the  difference  there  is  between  minds 
cultivated  and  minds  uncultivated,  and 
you  will,  I am  sure,  think  that  you 
cannot  take  too  much  pains,  nor 
employ  too  much  of  your  time,  in 
the  culture  of  your  own.  A drayman 
is  probably  born  with  as  good  organs 
as  Milton,  Locke,  or  Newton  ; but, 
by  culture,  they  are  much  more 
above  him  than  he  is  above  his  horse. 


57 


#=?  Selections 


Sometimes,  indeed,  extraordinary  gen- 
iuses have  broken  out  by  the  force  of 
nature,  without  the  assistance  of  educa- 
tion ; but  those  instances  are  too  rare  for 
anybody  to  trust  to ; and  even  they 
would  make  a much  greater  figure,  if 
they  had  the  advantage  of  education 
into  the  bargain.  \_April  i,  1748.] 
Chesterfield’s  Proposed  Aim. — 
The  end  which  I propose  by  your  edu- 
cation, and  which  (if  you  please)  I shall 
certainly  attain,  is  to  unite  in  you  the 
knowledge  of  a scholar,  with  the  man- 
ners of  a courtier  ; and  to  join,  what  is 
seldom  joined  in  any  of  my  country- 
men, books  and  the  world.  They  are 
commonly  twenty  years  old  before  they 
have  spoken  to  anybody  above  their 
schoolmaster,  and  the  fellows  of  their 
college.  If  they  happen  to  have  learn- 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  s# 


ing,  it  is  only  Greek  and  Latin ; but 
not  one  word  of  modern  history,  or 
modern  languages.  Thus  prepared, 
they  go  abroad,  as  they  call  it ; but,  in 
truth  they  stay  at  home  all  that  while  ; 
for  being  very  awkward,  confoundedly 
ashamed,  and  not  speaking  the  lan- 
guages, they  go  into  no  foreign  com- 
pany, at  least  none  good  ; but  dine  and 
sup  with  one  another  only,  at  the  tav- 
ern. Such  examples,  I am  sure,  you 
will  not  imitate,  but  even  carefully 
avoid.  [May  io,  1748.] 

Manly  Deference  to  Rank.  — 
People  of  a low,  obscure  education 
cannot  stand  the  rays  of  greatness ; 
they  are  frightened  out  of  their  wits 
when  kings  and  great  men  speak  to 
them  ; they  are  awkward,  ashamed,  and 
do  not  know  what  nor  how  to  answer ; 


59 


Selections 


whereas  les  honnetes  gens  are  not  dazzled 
by  superior  rank  ; they  know  and  pay  all 
the  respect  that  is  due  to  it ; but  they 
do  it  without  being  disconcerted ; and 
can  converse  just  as  easily  with  a king, 
as  with  any  one  of  his  subjects.  That 
is  the  great  advantage  of  being  intro- 
duced young  into  good  company,  and 
being  used  early  to  converse  with  one’s 
superiors.  How  many  men  have  I 
seen  here,  who,  after  having  had  the  full 
benefit  of  an  English  education  first 
at  school,  and  then  at  the  university, 
when  they  have  been  presented  to  the 
king,  did  not  know  whether  they  stood 
upon  their  heads  or  their  heels.  \May 
17, 1748.] 

Filial  Love  to  the  Mother. — 
You  owe  her,  not  only  duty,  but  like- 
wise great  obligations,  for  her  care  and 

60 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters 


tenderness ; and  consequently,  cannot 
take  too  many  opportunities  of  showing 
your  gratitude.  1 [ Same  dateJ\ 

Diplomatic  Education. — You 
must  absolutely  speak  all  the  modern 
languages,  as  purely  and  correctly  as  the 
natives  of  the  respective  countries ; for 
whoever  does  not  speak  a language  per- 
fectly and  easily,  will  never  appear  to 
advantage  in  conversation,  nor  treat 
with  others  in  it  upon  equal  terms. 
[May  22,  1748.] 

Advantage  of  Manners.  — Man- 
ners, though  the  last,  and  it  may  be  the 
least,  ingredient  of  real  merit,  are,  how- 
ever, very  far  from  being  useless  in  its 
composition ; they  adorn,  and  give  an 

1 Lord  Chesterfield  had  been  urging  his  son  to 
send  a Dresden  tea  service  to  his  mother,  which 
he  did. 

61 


tH  Selections 


additional  force  and  lustre  to  both  vir- 
tue and  knowledge.  They  prepare  and 
smooth  the  way  for  the  progress  of 
both ; and  are,  I fear,  with  the  bulk  of 
mankind,  more  engaging  than  either. 
Remember,  then,  the  infinite  advantage 
of  manners  ; cultivate  and  improve  your 
own  to  the  utmost ; good  sense  will 
suggest  the  great  rules  to  you,  good 
company  will  do  the  rest.  [May  27, 
1748.] 

How  to  Be  Considerable.  — Upon 
the  whole,  if  you  have  a mind  to  be 
considerable,  and  to  shine  hereafter, 
you  must  labour  hard  now.  No  quick- 
ness of  parts,  no  vivacity,  will  do  long, 
or  go  far,  without  a solid  fund  of 
knowledge  : and  that  fund  of  knowl- 
edge will  amply  repay  all  the  pains  that 
you  can  take  in  acquiring  it.  Reflect 
62 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


seriously,  within  yourself,  upon  all  this, 
and  ask  yourself,  whether  I can  have 
any  view,  but  your  interest,  in  all  that 
I recommend  to  you.  \Same  date.\ 
Enunciation — Eloquence. — Your 
figure  is  a good  one  \ you  have  no 
natural  defect  in  the  organs  of  speech ; 
your  address  may  be  engaging,  and  your 
manner  of  speaking  graceful,  if  you 
will ; so  that,  if  they  are  not  so,  neither 
I nor  the  world,  can  ascribe  it  to  any- 
thing but  your  want  of  parts.  What 
is  the  constant  and  just  observation  as 
to  all  actors  upon  the  stage  ? Is  it  not, 
that  those  who  have  the  best  sense  al- 
ways speak  the  best,  though  they  may 
happen  not  to  have  the  best  voices  ? 
They  will  speak  plainly,  distinctly,  and 
with  the  proper  emphasis,  be  their  voices 
ever  so  bad.  Had  Roscius  spoken  quick , 

63 


#4  Selections 


thick , and  ungracefully , I will  answer  for 
it,  that  Cicero  would  not  have  thought 
him  worth  the  oration  which  he  made 
in  his  favour.  Words  were  given  us  to 
communicate  our  ideas  by ; and  there 
must  be  something  inconceivably  absurd 
in  uttering  them  in  such  a manner  as 
that  either  people  cannot  understand 
them,  or  will  not  desire  to  understand 
them.  I tell  you  truly  and  sincerely, 
that  I shall  judge  of  your  parts  by 
your  speaking  gracefully  or  ungracefully. 
If  you  have  parts,  you  will  never  be  at 
rest  till  you  have  brought  yourself  to 
a habit  of  speaking  most  gracefully ; 
for  I aver.;  that  it  is  in  your  power. 
[June  21,  1748.] 

Articulation.  — You  will  take 
care  to  open  your  teeth  when  you  speak  ; 
to  articulate  every  word  distinctly ; and 
64 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


to  beg  of  Mr.  Harte,  Mr.  Eliot,  or 
whomever  you  speak  to,  to  remind  and 
stop  you,  if  ever  you  fall  into  the  rapid 
and  unintelligible  mutter.  You  will 
even  read  aloud  to  yourself,  and  tune 
your  utterance  to  your  own  ear  \ and 
read  at  first  much  slower  than  you  need 
to  do,  in  order  to  correct  yourself  of 
that  shameful  trick  of  speaking  faster 
than  you  ought. 

Desert  and  Reward.  — Deserve  a 
great  deal,  and  you  shall  have  a great 
deal ; deserve  a little,  and  you  shall 
have  but  little ; and  be  good  for 
nothing  at  all,  and,  I assure  you,  you 
shall  have  nothing  at  all. 

Solid  knowledge,  as  I have  often  told 
you,  is  the  first  and  great  foundation  of 
your  future  fortune  and  character ; for 
I never  mention  to  you  the  two  much 
65 


Selections 


greater  points  of  religion  and  morality, 
because  I cannot  possibly  suspect  you 
as  to  either  of  them.  \July  i,  1748.] 
No  One  Contemptible.  — Be  con- 
vinced that  there  are  no  persons  so  in- 
significant and  inconsiderable,  but  may, 
some  time  or  other,  and  in  some  thing 
or  other,  have  it  in  their  power  to  be  of 
use  to  you;  which,  they  certainly  will 
not,  if  you  have  once  shown  them  con- 
tempt. \Same  date.\ 

The  Folly  of  Contempt. — 
Wrongs  are  often  forgiven,  but  con- 
tempt never  is.  Our  pride  remembers 
it  for  ever.  It  implies  a discovery 
of  weaknesses,  which  we  are  much 
more  careful  to  conceal  than  crimes. 
Many  a man  will  confess  his  crimes  to 
a common  friend,  but  I never  knew  a 
man  who  would  tell  his  silly  weaknesses 
66 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


to  his  most  intimate  one*  As  many 
a friend  will  tell  us  our  faults  without 
reserve,  who  will  not  so  much  as  hint 
at  our  follies : that  discovery  is  too 
mortifying  to  our  self-love,  either  to  tell 
another,  or  to  be  told,  of  one’s  self. 
You  must,  therefore,  never  expect  to 
hear  of  your  weaknesses  or  follies,  from 
anybody  but  me ; those  I will  take  pains 
to  discover,  and,  whenever  I do,  shall 
tell  you  of  them.  \July  i,  1748.] 
Lazy  Minds.  — There  are  two  sorts 
of  understandings  ; one  of  which  hin- 
ders a man  from  ever  being  consider- 
able, and  the  other  commonly  makes 
him  ridiculous  ; I mean  the  lazy  mind, 
and  the  trifling,  frivolous  mind.  Yours, 
I hope,  is  neither.  The  lazy  mind  will 
not  take  the  trouble  of  going  to  the 
bottom  of  anything  ; but,  discouraged 
67 


tH  Selections 


by  the  first  difficulties  (and  everything 
worth  knowing  or  having  is  attended 
with  some),  stops  short,  contents  itself 
with  easy,  and,  consequently,  superfi- 
cial knowledge,  and  prefers  a great 
degree  of  ignorance  to  a small  degree 
of  trouble.  These  people  either  think, 
or  represent,  most  things  as  impossible  ; 
whereas  few  things  are  so,  to  industry 
and  activity.  [ July  26,  1748.] 

Conversation.  — When  you  are  in 
company,  bring  the  conversation  to 
some  useful  subject,  but  a portee  of  that 
company.  Points  of  history,  matters 
of  literature,  the  customs  of  particular 
countries,  the  several  orders  of  knight- 
hood, a<>  Teutonic,  Maltese,  etc.,  are 
surely  better  subjects  of  conversation 
than  the  weather,  dress,  or  fiddle-faddle 
stories,  that  carry  no  information  along 
68 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters 


with  them.  The  characters  of  kings, 
and  great  men,  are  only  to  be  learned  in 
conversation ; for  they  are  never  fairly 
written  during  their  lives.  \_Same  date^\ 

Always  Ask.  — Never  be  ashamed 
nor  afraid  of  asking  questions ; for  if 
they  lead  to  information,  and  if  you  ac- 
company them  with  some  excuse,  you 
will  never  be  reckoned  an  impertinent 
or  rude  questioner.  All  those  things, 
in  the  common  course  of  life,  depend 
entirely  upon  the  manner  ; and  in  that 
respect  the  vulgar  saying  is  true,  u that 
one  man  may  better  steal  a horse,  than 
another  look  over  the  hedge.”  \Same 
date .] 

Diet.  — Duval  tells  me  that  you  are 
pretty  fat  for  one  of  your  age ; this  you 
should  attend  to  in  a proper  way;  for 
if,  while  very  young,  you  should  grow 
69 


?H  Selections 


fat,  it  would  be  troublesome,  unwhole- 
some, and  ungraceful ; you  should  there- 
fore, when  you  have  time,  take  very 
strong  exercise,  and  in  your  diet  avoid 
fattening  things.  All  malt  liquors  fat- 
ten, or  at  least  bloat ; and  I hope  you 
do  not  deal  much  in  them.  \Aug.  2, 
1748.] 

Buying  Books.  — Mr.  Harte  wrote 
me  word  some  time  ago,  and  Mr.  Eliot 
confirms  it  now,  that  you  employ  your 
pin-money  in  a very  different  manner 
from  that  in  which  pin-money  1 is  com- 
monly lavished.  Not  in  gewgaws  and 
baubles,  but  in  buying  good  and  useful 
books.  This  is  an  excellent  symptom, 
and  gives  me  very  good  hopes.  Go  on 
thus,  my  dear  boy,  but  for  these  two 

1 A somewhat  curious  use  of  the  phrase,  but 
well  explained  by  Johnson. 

70 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters 

next  years,  and  I ask  no  more.  You 
must  then  make  such  a figure,  and  such 
a fortune  in  the  world,  as  I wish  you, 
and  as  I have  taken  all  these  pains  to 
enable  you  to  do.  After  that  time,  I 
allow  you  to  be  as  idle  as  ever  you 
please ; because  I am  sure  that  you  will 
not  then  please  to  be  so  at  all.  The 
ignorant  and  the  weak  only  are  idle ; 
but  those  who  have  once  acquired  a 
good  stock  of  knowledge,  always  desire 
to  increase  it.  Knowledge  is  like 
power,  in  this  respect,  that  those  who 
have  the  most  are  most  desirous  of 
having  more.  It  does  not  clog,  by 
possession,  but  increases  desires  ; which 
is  the  case  of  very  few  pleasures. 
[Jug.  23,  1848.] 

Historical  Faith.  — Take  nothing 
for  granted,  upon  the  bare  authority  of 

71 


Selections 


the  author ; but  weigh  and  consider,  in 
your  own  mind,  the  probability  of  the 
facts,  and  the  justness  of  the  reflections. 
Consult  different  authors  upon  the  same 
facts,  and  form  your  opinion  upon  the 
greater  or  lesser  degree  of  probability 
arising  from  the  whole,  which,  in  my 
mind,  is  the  utmost  stretch  of  historical 
faith,  certainty  (I  fear)  not  being  to  be 
found.  \Aug . 30,  1748.] 

Letters. — Your  letters,  except 
when  upon  a given  subject,  are  exceed- 
ingly laconic,  and  neither  answer  my 
desires,  nor  the  purpose  of  letters, 
which  should  be  familiar  conversations 
between  absent  friends.  As  I desire 
to  live  with  you  upon  the  footing  of 
an  intimate  friend,  and  not  of  a parent, 
I could  wish  that  your  letters  gave  me 
more  particular  accounts  of  yourself 


72 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


and  of  your  lesser  transactions.  When 
you  write  to  me,  suppose  yourself 
conversing  freely  with  me,  by  the  fire- 
side. In  that  case,  you  would  naturally 
mention  the  incidents  of  the  day ; as 
where  you  had  been,  whom  you  had 
seen,  what  you  thought  of  them,  etc. 
Do  this  in  your  letters  ; acquaint  me 
sometimes  with  your  studies,  sometimes 
with  your  diversions ; tell  me  of  any 
new  persons  and  characters  that  you 
meet  with  in  company,  and  add  your 
own  observations  upon  them : in  short, 
let  me  see  more  of  you,  in  your  letters. 
[Sept-  2 7,  1748.] 

Good  Company. — To  keep  good 
company,  especially  at  your  first  setting 
out,  is  the  way  to  receive  good  impres- 
sions. If  you  ask  me  what  I mean 
by  good  company,  I will  confess  to 
73 


Selections 


you  that  it  is  pretty  difficult  to  define  ; 
but  I will  endeavour  to  make  you 
understand  it  as  well  as  I can. 

Good  company  is  not  what  respect- 
ive sets  of  company  are  pleased  either 
to  call  or  think  themselves ; but  it  is 
that  company  which  all  the  people 
of  the  place  call,  and  acknowledge 
to  be  good  company,  notwithstanding 
some  objections  which  they  may  form 
to  some  of  the  individuals  who  compose 
it.  It  consists  chiefly  (but  by  no 
means  without  exception)  of  people 
of  considerable  birth,  rank,  and  charac- 
ter : for  people  of  neither  birth  nor 
rank  are  frequently  and  very  justly 
admitted  into  it,  if  distinguished  by 
any  peculiar  merit,  or  eminency  in 
any  liberal  art  or  science.  Nay,  so 
motley  a thing  is  good  company,  that 
74 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters 


many  people,  without  birth,  rank,  or 
merit,  intrude  into  it  by  their  own 
forwardness,  and  others  slide  into  it 
by  the  protection  of  some  consider- 
able person  \ and  some  even  of  indiffer- 
ent characters  and  morals  make  part 
of  it.  But,  in  the  main,  the  good 
part  preponderates,  and  people  of 
infamous  and  blasted  characters  are 
never  admitted.  In  this  fashionable 
good  company  the  best  manners  and 
the  best  language  of  the  place  are 
most  unquestionably  to  be  learnt ; for 
they  establish,  and  give  the  tone  to 
both,  which  are  therefore  called  the 
language  and  manners  of  good  com- 
pany ; there  being  no  legal  tribunal 
to  ascertain  either. 

A company  consisting  wholly  of 
people  of  the  first  quality  cannot,  for 
75 


#4  Selections 


that  reason,  be  called  good  company, 
in  the  common  acceptation  of  the 
phrase,  unless  they  are,  into  the  bargain, 
the  fashionable  and  accredited  company 
of  the  place ; for  people  of  the  very 
first  quality  can  be  as  silly,  as  ill-bred, 
and  as  worthless,  as  people  of  the  mean- 
est degree.  On  the  other  hand,  a 
company  consisting  entirely  of  people 
of  very  low  condition,  whatever  their 
merit  or  parts  may  be,  can  never  be 
called  good  company  ; and  consequently 
should  not  be  much  frequented,  though 
by  no  means  despised. 

A company  wholly  composed  of 
men  of  learning,  though  greatly  to 
be  valued  and  respected,  is  not  meant 
by  the  words  good  company  : they  cannot 
have  the  easy  manners  and  tournure 
of  the  world,  as  they  do  not  live  in  it. 

76 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


If  you  can  bear  your  part  well  in 
such  a company,  it  is  extremely  right 
to  be  in  it  sometimes,  and  you  will  be 
but  more  esteemed,  in  other  companies, 
for  having  a place  in  that.  But  then 
do  not  let  it  engross  you : for  if  you 
do,  you  will  be  only  considered  as  one 
of  the  litterati  by  profession ; which 
is  not  the  way  either  to  shine  or  rise 
in  the  world. 

The  company  of  professed  wits  and 
poets  is  extremely  inviting  to  most 
young  men,  who,  if  they  have  wit 
themselves,  are  pleased  with  it,  and 
if  they  have  none,  are  sillily  proud  of 
being  one  of  it ; but  it  should  be  fre- 
quented with  moderation  and  judgment, 
and  you  should  by  no  means  give  yourself 
up  to  it.  A wit  is  a very  unpopular 
denomination,  as  it  carries  terror  along 
77 


Selections 


with  it  ; and  people  in  general  are  as 
much  afraid  of  a live  wit,  in  company, 
as  a woman  is  of  a gun,  which  she 
thinks  may  go  off  of  itself,  and  do 
her  a mischief.  Their  acquaintance 
is,  however,  worth  seeking,  and  their 
company  worth  frequenting ; but  not 
exclusively  of  others,  nor  to  such  a 
degree  as  to  be  considered  only  as 
one  of  that  particular  set. 

But  the  company  which  of  all  others 
you  should  most  carefully  avoid  is 
that  low  company  which,  in  every 
sense  of  the  word,  is  low  indeed ; 
low  in  rank,  low  in  parts,  low  in 
manners,  and  low  in  merit.  [Oct . 12, 
1748.] 

Associates.  — There  is  good  sense 
in  the  Spanish  saying,  “ Tell  me  whom 
you  live  with,  and  I will  tell  you 
78 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters 


who  you  are.”  Make  it,  therefore, 
your  business,  wherever  you  are,  to 
get  into  that  company  which  every- 
body of  the  place  allows  to  be  the 
best  company,  next  to  their  own : 
which  is  the  best  definition  that  I can 
give  you  of  good  company.  But  here, 
too,  one  caution  is  very  necessary ; 
for  want  of  which  many  young  men 
have  been  ruined,  even  in  good  com- 
pany. Good  company  (as  I have 
before  observed)  is  composed  of  a great 
variety  of  fashionable  people,  whose 
characters  and  morals  are  very  different, 
though  their  manners  are  pretty  much 
the  same.  When  a young  man,  now 
in  the  world,  first  gets  into  that  com- 
pany, he  very  rightly  determines  to 
conform  to  and  imitate  it.  But  then 
he  too  often,  and  fatally,  mistakes 
79 


Selections 


the  object  of  his  imitation.  He  has 
often  heard  that  absurd  term  of  genteel 
and  fashionable  vices.  [ Same  date.~\ 
Behaviour.  — Imitate,  then,  with 
discernment  and  judgment,  the  real 
perfections  of  the  good  company  into 
which  you  may  get ; copy  their  polite- 
ness, their  carriage,  their  address,  and 
the  easy  and  well-bred  turn  of  their 
conversation ; but  remember,  that,  let 
them  shine  ever  so  bright,  their  vices, 
if  they  have  any,  are  so  many  spots, 
which  you  would  no  more  imitate 
than  you  would  make  an  artificial  wart 
upon  your  face,  because  some  very 
handsome  man  had  the  misfortune  to 
have  a natural  one  upon  his  : but, 
on  the  contrary,  think  how  much  hand- 
somer he  would  have  been  without  it. 
\Same  date.~\ 


So 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hf 


Talking.  — Talk  often,  but  never 
long  ; in  that  case,  if  you  do  not 
please,  at  least  you  are  sure  not  to 
tire  your  hearers.  Pay  your  own 
reckoning,  but  do  not  treat  the  whole 
company  ; this  being  one  of  the  very 
few  cases  in  which  people  do  not 
care  to  be  treated,  every  one  being 
fully  convinced  that  he  has  where- 
withal to  pay. 

Tell  stories  very  seldom,  and  abso- 
lutely never  but  where  they  are  very 
apt,  and  very  short.  Omit  every  cir- 
cumstance that  is  not  material,  and 
beware  of  digressions.  To  have  fre- 
quent recourse  to  narrative  betrays 
great  want  of  imagination. 

Never  hold  anybody  by  the  button, 
or  the  hand,  in  order  to  be  heard  out ; 
for,  if  people  are  not  willing  to  hear 
81 


Selections 


you,  you  had  much  better  hold  your 
tongue  than  them. 

Most  long  talkers  single  out  some 
one  unfortunate  man  in  company  (com- 
monly him  whom  they  observe  to  be 
the  most  silent,  or  their  next  neigh- 
bour) to  whisper,  or  at  least,  in  a half 
voice,  to  convey  a continuity  of  words 
to.  This  is  excessively  ill-bred,  and, 
in  some  degree,  a fraud,  conversa- 
tion stock  being  a joint  and  common 
property.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
if  one  of  these  unmerciful  talkers 
lays  hold  of  you,  hear  him  with 
patience  (and  at  least  seeming  atten- 
tion), if  he  is  worth  obliging  ; for 
nothing  will  oblige  him  more  than  a 
patient  hearing,  as  nothing  would 
hurt  him  more  than  either  to  leave 
him  in  the  midst  of  his  discourse,  or 
82 


Lord  Chesterfield's  Letters  Hr 


to  discover  your  impatience  under 
your  affliction. 

Take  rather  than  give,  the  tone  of 
the  company  you  are  in.  If  you  have 
parts,  you  will  show  them,  more  or 
less,  upon  every  subject ; and  if  you 
have  not,  you  had  better  talk  sillily 
upon  a subject  of  other  people’s  than 
of  your  own  choosing. 

Avoid  as  much  as  you  can,  in  mixed 
companies,  argumentative,  polemical 
conversations ; which,  though  they 
should  not,  yet  certainly  do,  indispose, 
for  a time,  the  contending  parties 
toward  each  other : and,  if  the  contro- 
versy grows  warm  and  noisy,  endeavour 
to  put  an  end  to  it  by  some  genteel 
levity  or  joke.  I quieted  such  a con- 
versation hubbub  once,  by  representing 
to  them  that,  though  I was  persuaded 

83 


#4  Selections 


none  there  present  would  repeat,  out 
of  company,  what  passed  in  it,  yet  I 
could  not  answer  for  the  discretion  of 
the  passengers  in  the  street,  who  must 
necessarily  hear  all  that  was  said. 

Above  all  things,  and  upon  all  occa- 
sions, avoid  speaking  of  yourself,  if 
it  be  possible.  Such  is  the  natural 
pride  and  vanity  of  our  hearts,  that  it 
perpetually  breaks  out,  even  in  people 
of  the  best  parts,  in  all  the  various 
modes  and  figures  of  the  egotism. 
[Oct.  19,  1748.] 

Yourself.  — The  only  sure  way  of 
avoiding  these  evils  is,  never  to  speak 
of  yourself  at  all.  But  when,  historic- 
ally, you  are  obliged  to  mention  your- 
self, take  care  not  to  drop  one  single 
word  that  can  directly  or  indirectly  be 
construed  as  fishing  for  applause.  Be 
^84 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


your  character  what  it  will,  it  will  be 
known ; and  nobody  will  take  it  upon 
your  own  word.  Never  imagine  that 
anything  you  can  say  yourself  will  var- 
nish your  defects,  or  add  lustre  to  your 
perfections ; but,  on  the  contrary,  it 
may,  and  nine  times  in  ten  will,  make 
the  former  more  glaring,  and  the  latter 
obscure.  If  you  are  silent  upon  your 
own  subject,  neither  envy,  indignation, 
nor  ridicule,  will  obstruct  or  allay  the 
applause  which  you  may  really  deserve  ; 
but  if  you  publish  your  own  panegyric, 
upon  any  occasion,  or  in  any  shape  what- 
soever, and  however  artfully  dressed  or 
disguised,  they  will  all  conspire  against 
you,  and  you  will  be  disappointed  of 
the  very  end  you  aim  at.  [ Same  datei\ 
Scandal  — Mimicry  — Swearing 
— Laughter. — Neither  retail  nor  re- 

85 


Selections 


ceive  scandal,  willingly  ; for  though  the 
defamation  of  others  may,  for  the  pres- 
ent, gratify  the  malignity  of  the  pride 
of  our  hearts,  cool  reflection  will  draw 
very  disadvantageous  conclusions  from 
such  a disposition  ; and  in  the  case  of 
scandal,  as  in  that  of  robbery,  the  re- 
ceiver is  always  thought  as  bad  as  the 
thief. 

Mimicry,  which  is  the  common  and 
favourite  amusement  of  little,  low 
minds,  is  in  the  utmost  contempt  with 
great  ones.  It  is  the  lowest  and 
most  illiberal  of  all  buffoonery.  Pray, 
neither  practise  it  yourself,  nor  applaud 
it  in  others.  Besides  that,  the  person 
mimicked  is  insulted;  and,  as  I have 
often  observed  to  you  before,  an  insult 
is  never  forgiven. 

I need  not  (I  believe)  advise  you  to 
86 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


adapt  your  conversation  to  the  people 
you  are  conversing  with  : for  I suppose 
you  would  not,  without  this  caution, 
have  talked  upon  the  same  subject,  and 
in  the  same  manner,  to  a minister  of 
state,  a bishop,  a philosopher,  a captain, 
and  a woman.  A man  of  the  world 
must,  like  the  chameleon  (r/V),  be  able  to 
take  every  different  hue ; which  is  by 
no  means  a criminal  or  abject,  but  a 
necessary  complaisance,  for  it  relates 
only  to  manners,  and  not  to  morals. 

One  word  only,  as  to  swearing  ; and 
that,  I hope  and  believe,  is  more  than 
is  necessary.  You  may  sometimes  hear 
some  people,  in  good  company,  inter- 
lard their  discourse  with  oaths,  by  way 
of  embellishment,  as  they  think ; but 
you  must  observe,  too,  that  those  who 
do  so  are  never  those  who  contribute, 
87 


tH  Selections 


in  any  degree,  to  give  that  company  the 
denomination  of  good  company.  They 
are  always  subalterns,  or  people  of  low 
education  ; for  that  practice,  besides  that 
it  has  no  one  temptation  to  plead,  is  as 
silly,  and  as  illiberal,  as  it  is  wicked. 

Loud  laughter  is  the  mirth  of  the 
mob ; who  are  only  pleased  with  silly 
things  ; for  true  wit  or  good  sense  never 
excited  a laugh,  since  the  creation  of 
the  world.  A man  of  parts  and  fashion 
is  therefore  only  seen  to  smile,  but 
never  heard  to  laugh. 

But,  to  conclude  this  long  letter;  all 
the  above-mentioned  rules,  however 
carefully  you  may  observe  them,  will 
lose  half  their  effect,  if  unaccompanied 
by  the  Graces.  Whatever  you  say,  if 
you  say  it  with  a supercilious,  cynical 
face,  or  an  embarrassed  countenance, 
88 


Lord  Chesterfield's  Letters 


or  a silly,  disconcerted  grin,  will  be  ill 
received.  If,  into  the  bargain,  you 
mutter  it , or  utter  it  indistinctly , and 
ungracefully , it  will  be  still  worse 
received.  If  your  air  and  address  are 
vulgar,  awkward,  and  gauche , you  may 
be  esteemed,  indeed,  if  you  have  great 
intrinsic  merit;  but  you  will  never 
please  : and,  without  pleasing,  you  will 
rise  but  heavily.  Venus,  among  the 
ancients,  was  synonymous  with  the 
Graces,  who  were  always  supposed  to 
accompany  her : and  Horace  tells  us 
that  even  Youth  and  Mercury,  the  god 
of  arts  and  eloquence,  would  not  do 
without  her. 

“ . . . Parian  comis  sine  te  Juventas , 
Mercuriusque.  ” 

They  are  not  inexorable  ladies, 
and  may  be  had,  if  properly  and  dili- 
89 


#4  Selections 


gently  pursued.  Adieu.  [Oct.  19, 
1748.] 

Frivolity.  — Little  minds  mistake 
little  objects  for  great  ones,  and  lavish 
away  upon  the  former  that  time  and 
attention  which  only  the  latter  deserve. 
To  such  mistakes  we  owe  the  numerous 
and  frivolous  tribe  of  insect-mongers, 
shell-mongers,  and  pursuers  and  driers 
of  butterflies,  etc.  The  strong  mind 
distinguishes  not  only  between  the 
useful  and  the  useless,  but,  likewise, 
between  the  useful  and  the  curious. 
He  applies  himself  intensely  to  the  for- 
mer ; he  only  amuses  himself  with  the 
latter.  Of  this  little  sort  of  knowledge, 
which  I have  just  hinted  at,  you  will 
find,  at  least,  as  much  as  you  need  wish 
to  know,  in  a superficial  but  pretty 
French  book,  entitled,  u Spectacle  de  la 


90 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


Nature  ; ” which  will  amuse  you  while 
you  read  it,  and  give  you  a sufficient 
notion  of  the  various  parts  of  nature ; 
I would  advise  you  to  read  it,  at  leisure 
hours.  [. Dec . 6,  1748.] 

Improvement  of  Time.  — The 
whole  morning,  if  diligently  and  atten- 
tively devoted  to  solid  studies,  will  go 
a great  way  at  the  year’s  end;  and  the 
evenings  spent  in  the  pleasures  of  good 
company  will  go  as  far  in  teaching  you 
a knowledge  not  much  less  necessary 
than  the  other  — I mean  the  knowledge 
of  the  world.  Between  these  two 
necessary  studies,  that  of  books  in  the 
morning,  and  that  of  the  world  in 
the  evening,  you  see  that  you  will 
not  have  one  minute  to  squander 
or  slattern  away.  Nobody  ever  lent 
themselves  more  than  I did,  when  I 


91 


#4  Selections 

6- 

was  young,  to  the  pleasures  and  dissi- 
pation of  good  company  ; I even  did  it 
too  much.  But  then,  I can  assure  you 
that  I always  found  time  for  serious 
studies ; and,  when  I could  find  it  no 
other  way,  I took  it  out  of  my  sleep, 
for  I resolved  always  to  rise  early  in 
the  morning,  however  late  I went  to 
bed  at  night;  and  this  resolution  I 
have  kept  so  sacred,  that,  unless  when 
I have  been  confined  to  my  bed  by  ill- 
ness, I have  not  for  more  than  forty 
years,  ever  been  in  bed  at  nine  o’clock 
in  the  morning,  but  commonly  up 
before  eight.  \Dec.  13,  1748.] 

Affectation.  — Any  affectation 
whatsoever  in  dress  implies,  in  my 
mind,  a flaw  in  the  understanding. 
Most  of  our  young  fellows,  here,  dis- 
play some  character  or  other  by  their 
92 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  ## 


dress  ; some  affect  the  tremendous,  and 
wear  a great  and  fiercely  cocked  hat, 
an  enormous  sword,  a short  waistcoat, 
and  a black  cravat : these  I should  be 
almost  tempted  to  swear  the  peace 
against,  in  my  own  defence,  if  I were 
not  convinced  that  they  are  but  meek 
asses  in  lions’  skins.  Others  go  in 
brown  frocks,  leather  breeches,  great 
oaken  cudgels  in  their  hands,  their  hats 
uncocked,  and  their  hair  unpowdered  ; 
and  imitate  grooms,  stage-coachmen, 
and  country  bumpkins  so  well  in  their 
outsides,  that  I do  not  make  the  least 
doubt  of  their  resembling  them  equally 
in  their  insides.  A man  of  sense  care- 
fully avoids  any  particular  character  in 
his  dress ; he  is  accurately  clean  for  his 
own  sake;  but  all  the  rest  is  for  other 
people’s.  He  dresses  as  well,  and  in 
93 


#4  Selections 


the  same  manner,  as  the  people  of  sense 
and  fashion  of  the  place  where  he  is. 
If  he  dresses  better,  as  he  thinks,  that 
is,  more  than  they,  he  is  a fop ; if  he 
dresses  worse,  he  is  unpardonably  negli- 
gent : but,  of  the  two,  I would  rather 
have  a young  fellow  too  much  than  too 
little  dressed ; the  excess  on  that  side 
will  wear  off,  with  a little  age  and 
reflection ; but  if  he  is  negligent  at 
twenty,  he  will  be  a sloven  at  forty, 
and  stink  at  fifty  years  old.  Dress 
yourself  fine,  where  others  are  fine ; 
and  plain,  where  others  are  plain  ; but 
take  care,  always,  that  your  clothes  are 
well  made  and  fit  you,  for  otherwise 
they  will  give  you  a very  awkward  air. 
When  you  are  once  well  dressed,  for 
the  day,  think  no  more  of  it  afterward ; 
and,  without  any  stiffness  for  fear  of 
94 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


discomposing  that  dress,  let  all  your 
motions  be  as  easy  and  natural  as  if 
you  had  no  clothes  on  at  all.  So  much 
for  dress,  which  I maintain  to  be  a 
thing  of  consequence  in  the  polite 
world.  \_Dec.  30,  1748.] 

A Gentleman’s  Pleasures. — Dear 
Boy  : — This  letter  will,  I believe,  still 
find  you  at  Venice,  in  all  the  dissipation 
of  masquerades,  ridottos,  operas,  etc. : 
with  all  my  heart  they  are  decent 
evening  amusements,  and  very  properly 
succeed  that  serious  application  to 
which  I am  sure  you  devote  your  morn- 
ings. There  are  liberal  and  illiberal 
pleasures,  as  well  as  liberal  and  illiberal 
arts.  There  are  some  pleasures  that 
degrade  a gentleman,  as  much  as  some 
trades  could  do.  Sottish  drinking,  in- 
discriminate gluttony,  driving  coaches, 
95 


#4  Selections 


rustic  sports,  such  as  fox-chases,  horse- 
races, etc.,  are,  in  my  opinion,  infinitely 
below  the  honest  and  industrious  pro- 
fessions of  a tailor,  and  a shoemaker, 
which  are  said  to  deroger . \April  19, 

1 749*] 

Music  — Fiddling. — I cannot  help 
cautioning  you  against  giving  into  those 
(I  will  call  them  illiberal)  pleasures 
(though  music  is  commonly  reckoned 
one  of  the  liberal  arts)  to  the  degree 
that  most  of  your  countrymen  do,  when 
they  travel  in  Italy.  If  you  love  music, 
hear  it ; go  to  operas,  concerts,  and  pay 
fiddlers  to  play  to  you ; but  I insist 
upon  your  neither  piping  nor  fiddling 
yourself.  It  puts  a gentleman  in  a 
very  frivolous,  contemptible  light ; 
brings  him  into  a great  deal  of  bad 
company ; and  takes  up  a great  deal  of 
96 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


time,  which  might  be  much  better  em- 
ployed. Few  things  would  mortify  me 
more,  than  to  see  you  bearing  a part 
in  a concert,  with  a fiddle  under  your 
chin,  or  a pipe  in  your  mouth.  \April 

*9»  1 749*] 

Manieres.  — By  manures , I do  not 
mean  bare  common  civility  ; everybody 
must  have  that,  who  would  not  be 
kicked  out  of  company  : but  I mean  en- 
gaging, insinuating,  shining  manners ; 
a distinguished  politeness,  an  almost 
irresistible  address ; a superior  grace- 
fulness in  all  you  say  and  do.  It  is 
this  alone  that  can  give  all  your  other 
talents  their  full  lustre  and  value  ; and, 
consequently,  it  is  this  which  should 
now  be  the  principal  object  of  your 
attention.  Observe  minutely,  where- 
ever  you  go,  the  allowed  and  estab- 
97 


#4  Selections 


lished  morals  of  good  breeding,  and 
form  yourself  upon  them.  Whatever 
pleases  you  most,  in  others,  will  infal- 
libly please  others,  in  you.  I have 
often  repeated  this  to  you ; now  is 
your  time  of  putting  it  in  practice. 
\Same  date, ] 

How  to  Please.  — You  must  not 
neglect  your  dress,  neither,  but  take  care 
to  be  bien  mis . Pray  send  for  the  best 
operator  for  the  teeth,  at  Turin,  where 
I suppose  there  is  some  famous  one  ; 
and  let  him  put  yours  in  perfect  order ; 
and  then  take  care  to  keep  them  so, 
afterwards,  yourself.  You  had  very 
good  teeth,  and  I hope  they  are  so  still ; 
but  even  those  who  have  bad  ones 
should  keep  them  clean ; for  a dirty 
mouth  is,  in  my  mind,  ill  manners. 
In  short,  neglect  nothing  that  can 
98 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters 


possibly  please.  A thousand  nameless 
little  things,  which  nobody  can  describe, 
but  which  everybody  feels,  conspire  to 
form  that  whole  of  pleasing  ; as  the  sev- 
eral pieces  of  a mosaic  work,  though 
separately  of  little  beauty  or  value, 
when  properly  joined  form  those  beau- 
tiful figures  which  please  everybody. 
A look,  a gesture,  an  attitude,  a tone  of 
voice,  all  bear  their  parts  in  the  great 
work  of  pleasing.  The  art  of  pleasing 
is  more  particularly  necessary  in  your 
intended  profession,  than,  perhaps,  in 
any  other ; it  is,  in  truth,  the  first  half 
of  your  business ; for  if  you  do  not 
please  the  court  you  are  sent  to,  you 
will  be  of  very  little  use  to  the  court 
you  are  sent  from.  Please  the  eyes 
and  the  ears,  they  will  introduce  you 
to  the  heart  \ and,  nine  times  in  ten, 
99 


^ Selections 


the  heart  governs  the  understanding. 
\May  15,  1749.] 

Flattery.  — I recommended  to 
you,  in  my  last,  an  innocent  piece  of 
art ; that  of  flattering  people  behind 
their  backs,  in  presence  of  those  who, 
to  make  their  own  court,  much  more 
than  for  your  sake,  will  not  fail  to 
repeat,  and  even  amplify  the  praise  to 
the  party  concerned.  This  is,  of  all 
flattery,  the  most  pleasing,  and  conse- 
quently the  most  effectual.  There  are 
other,  and  many  other  inoffensive  arts 
of  this  kind,  which  are  necessary  in  the 
course  of  the  world,  and  which  he  who 
practises  the  earliest,  will  please  the 
most,  and  rise  the  soonest.  [May  22, 

1749-] 

Temper.  — The  principal  of  these 
things,  is  the  mastery  of  one’s  tem- 


100 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


per,  and  that  coolness  of  mind,  and 
serenity  of  countenance,  which  hinders 
us  from  discovering,  by  words,  actions, 
or  even  looks,  those  passions  or  sen- 
timents, by  which  we  are  inwardly 
moved  or  agitated  ; and  the  discovery 
of  which  gives  cooler  and  abler  people 
such  infinite  advantages  over  us,  not 
only  in  great  business,  but  in  all  the 
most  common  occurrences  of  life.  A 
man  who  does  not  possess  himself 
enough  to  hear  disagreeable  things, 
without  visible  marks  of  anger  and 
change  of  countenance,  or  agreeable 
ones  without  sudden  bursts  of  joy  and 
expansion  of  countenance,  is  at  the 
mercy  of  every  artful  knave,  or  pert 
coxcomb  : the  former  will  provoke  or 
please  you  by  design,  to  catch  unguarded 
words  or  looks ; by  which  he  will  easily 


IOI 


Selections 


decipher  the  secrets  of  your  heart,  of 
which  you  should  keep  the  key  your- 
self, and  trust  it  with  no  man  living. 
\May  22,  1749.] 

Dissimulation.  — It  may  be  ob- 
jected, that  I am  now  recommending 
dissimulation  to  you ; I both  own  and 
justify  it.  It  has  been  long  said,  §>ui 
nescit  dissimulare  nescit  regnare : I go 
still  farther,  and  say  that  without  some 
dissimulation  no  business  can  be  carried 
on  at  all.  It  is  simulation  that  is  false, 
mean,  and  criminal : that  is  the  cun- 
ning which  Lord  Bacon  calls  crooked 
or  left-handed  wisdom,  and  which  is 
never  made  use  of  but  by  those  who 
have  not  true  wisdom.  And  the  same 
great  man  says  that  dissimulation  is 
only  to  hide  our  own  cards  ; whereas 
simulation  is  put  on  in  order  to  look 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


into  other  people’s.  Lord  Boling- 
broke,  in  his  “ Idea  of  a Patriot  King,” 
which  he  has  lately  published,  and 
which  I will  send  you  by  the  first 
opportunity,  says,  very  justly,  that 
simulation  is  a stiletto ; not  only  an 
unjust  but  an  unlawful  weapon,  and  the 
use  of  it  very  rarely  to  be  excused, 
never  justified.  Whereas  dissimulation 
is  a shield,  as  secrecy  is  armour;  and 
it  is  no  more  possible  to  preserve 
secrecy  in  business,  without  some 
degree  of  dissimulation,  than  it  is  to 
succeed  in  business  without  secrecy. 
[ Same  date.~\ 

The  Easy  Moment. — Some  people 
are  to  be  reasoned,  some  flattered,  some 
intimidated,  and  some  teased  into  a 
thing ; but,  in  general,  all  are  to  be 
brought  . into  it  at  last,  if  skilfully 
103 


#4  Selections 


applied  to,  properly  managed,  and  inde- 
fatigably  attacked  in  their  several  weak 
places.  The  time  should  likewise  be 
judiciously  chosen  : every  man  has  his 
mollia  tempora , but  that  is  far  from 
being  all  day  long ; and  you  would 
choose  your  time  very  ill,  if  you  applied 
to  a man  about  one  business,  when  his 
head  was  full  of  another,  or  when  his 
heart  was  full  of  grief,  anger,  or  any 
other  disagreeable  sentiment.  [May 
22,  1749.] 

Judge  of  Others  by  Yourself. — 
In  order  to  judge  of  the  inside  of 
others,  study  your  own ; for  men  in 
general  are  very  much  alike ; and 
though  one  has  one  prevailing  passion, 
and  another  has  another,  yet  their 
operations  are  much  the  same ; and 
whatever  engages  or  disgusts,  pleases, 
104 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters 


or  offends  you  in  others  will,  mutatis 
mutandis , engage,  disgust,  please,  or 
offend  others,  in  you.  \Same  date.^\ 
Sculpture  and  Painting.  — You 
will  examine,  likewise,  whether,  in 
their  groups,  there  be  a unity  of  action, 
or  proper  relation ; a truth  of  dress  and 
manners.  Sculpture  and  painting  are 
very  justly  called  liberal  arts  ; a lively 
and  strong  imagination,  together  with 
a just  observation,  being  absolutely 
necessary  to  excel  in  either : which,  in 
my  opinion,  is  by  no  means  the  case  of 
music,  though  called  a liberal  art,  and 
now  in  Italy  placed  even  above  the 
other  two  : a proof  of  the  decline  of 
that  country.  A taste  of  sculpture  and 
painting  is,  in  my  mind,  as  becoming 
as  a taste  of  fiddling  and  piping  is 
unbecoming  a man  of  fashion.  The 
io5 


#4  Selections 


former  is  connected  with  history  and 
poetry ; the  latter,  with  nothing,  that 
I know  of,  but  bad  company.  \^fune 
22,  1749.] 

Trifles.  — Great  merit,  or  great 
failings,  will  make  you  respected  or 
despised ; but  trifles,  little  attentions, 
mere  nothings,  either  done,  or  neg- 
lected, will  make  you  either  liked  or 
disliked,  in  the  general  run  of  the 
world.  Examine  yourself,  why  you 
like  such  and  such  people,  and  dislike 
such  and  such  others ; and  you  will 
find  that  those  different  sentiments  pro- 
ceed from  very  slight  causes.  Moral 
virtues  are  the  foundation  of  society  in 
general,  and  of  friendship  in  particular; 
but  attentions,  manners,  and  graces 
both  adorn  and  strengthen  them.  \July 
20,  1749.] 

106 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  ^ 


Earn  Your  Pleasures.  — No  man 
tastes  pleasures  truly,  who  does  not 
earn  them  by  previous  business ; and 
few  people  do  business  well,  who  do 
nothing  else.  Remember,  that  when 
I speak  of  pleasures,  I always  mean 
the  elegant  pleasures  of  a rational 
being,  and  not  the  brutal  ones  of  a 
swine.  I mean  la  bonne  chere , short 
of  gluttony  ; wine,  infinitely  short  of 
drunkenness ; play,  without  the  least 
gaming ; and  gallantry,  without  de- 
bauchery. There  is  a line  in  all  these 
things  which  men  of  sense,  for  greater 
security,  take  care  to  keep  a good  deal 
on  the  right  side  of : for  sickness,  pain, 
contempt,  and  infamy  lie  immediately 
on  the  other  side  of  it.  Men  of  sense 
and  merit  in  all  other  respects,  may 
have  had  some  of  these  failings  ; but 


107 


#4  Selections 


then  those  few  examples,  instead  of 
inviting  us  to  imitation,  should  only 
put  us  the  more  upon  our  guard  against 
such  weaknesses.  Whoever  thinks 
them  fashionable  will  not  be  so  him- 
self. I have  often  known  a fashionable 
man  have  some  one  vice,  but  I never, 
in  my  life,  knew  a vicious  man  a 
fashionable  man.  Vice  is  as  degrading 
as  it  is  criminal.  God  bless  you,  my 
dear  child!  \_^ug.  7,  1749.] 

Dignity  of  Manners.  — There  is  a 
certain  dignity  of  manners  absolutely 
necessary,  to  make  even  the  most 
valuable  character  either  respected  or 
respectable. 

Horse-play,  romping,  frequent  and 
loud  fits  of  laughter,  jokes,  waggery, 
and  indiscriminate  familiarity,  will  sink 
both  merit  and  knowledge  into  a degree 

108 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  He 


of  contempt.  They  compose  at  most 
a merry  fellow ; and  a merry  fellow 
was  never  yet  a respectable  man. 
Indiscriminate  familiarity  either  offends 
your  superiors,  or  else  dubs  you  their 
dependant,  and  led  captain.  It  gives 
your  inferiors  just  but  troublesome  and 
improper  claims  of  equality.  A joker 
is  near  akin  to  a buffoon ; and  neither 
of  them  is  the  least  related  to  wit. 
Whoever  is  admitted  or  sought  for, 
in  company,  upon  any  other  account 
than  that  of  his  merit  and  manners,  is 
never  respected  there,  but  only  made 
use  of.  We  will  have  such-a-one,  for 
he  sings  prettily ; we  will  invite  such- 
a-one  to  a ball,  for  he  dances  well ; we 
will  have  such  -a-one  to  supper,  for  he  is 
always  joking  and  laughing  ; we  will  ask 
another,  because  he  plays  deep  at  all 
109 


#4  Selections 


games,  or  because  he  can  drink  a great 
deal.  These  are  vilifying  distinctions, 
mortifying  preferences,  and  exclude  all 
ideas  of  esteem  and  regard.  Whoever 
is  had  (as  it  is  called)  in  company, 
for  the  sake  of  any  one  thing  singly  ^ 
is  singly  that  thing,  and  will  never 
be  considered  in  any  other  light ; 
consequently  never  respected,  let  his 
merits  be  what  they  will.  \giug.  io, 
1 749*] 

Distraction  and  Inattention.  — 
I know  no  one  thing  more  offensive 
to  a company  than  inattention  and 
distraction . It  is  showing  them  the 
utmost  contempt  ; and  people  never 
forgive  contempt.  No  man  is  dis- 
trait with  the  man  he  fears,  or  the 
woman  he  loves ; which  is  a proof 
that  every  man  can  get  the  better  of 


no 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


that  distraction , when  he  thinks  it  worth 
his  while  to  do  so ; and,  take  my  word 
for  it,  it  is  always  worth  his  while. 
For  my  own  part,  I would  rather  be 
in  company  with  a dead  man,  than 
with  an  absent  one ; for  if  the  dead 
man  gives  me  no  pleasure,  at  least 
he  shows  me  no  contempt ; whereas 
the  absent  man,  silently  indeed,  but 
very  plainly,  tells  me  that  he  does  not 
think  me  worth  his  attention. 

Bend  to  Ceremony.  — A propos  of 
the  Pope ; remember  to  be  presented 
to  him  before  you  leave  Rome,  and 
go  through  the  necessary  ceremonies 
for  it,  whether  of  kissing  his  slipper 
or  his  breech ; for  I would  never 
deprive  myself  of  anything  that  I 
wanted  to  do  or  see,  by  refusing  to 
comply  with  an  established  custom. 
hi 


#4  Selections 


When  I was  in  Catholic  countries, 
I never  declined  kneeling  in  their 
churches  at  the  elevation,  nor  elsewhere, 
when  the  host  went  by.  It  is  a com- 
plaisance due  to  the  custom  of  the 
place,  and  by  no  means,  as  some  silly 
people  have  imagined,  an  implied 
approbation  of  their  doctrine.  Bodily 
attitudes  and  situations  are  things  so 
very  indifferent  in  themselves,  that  I 
would  quarrel  with  nobody  about  them. 
[Sept.  22,  1749.] 

The  Vulgar  Man.  — Trifles.  — 
Vulgarism.  — A vulgar  man  is  cap- 
tious and  jealous  ; eager  and  impetuous 
about  trifles.  He  suspects  himself  to 
be  slighted,  thinks  everything  that  is 
said  meant  at  him ; if  the  company 
happens  to  laugh,  he  is  persuaded  they 
laugh  at  him  : he  grows  angry  and 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters 


testy,  says  something  very  impertinent, 
and  draws  himself  into  a scrape,  by 
showing  what  he  calls  a proper  spirit, 
and  asserting  himself.  A man  of  fash- 
ion does  not  suppose  himself  to  be 
either  the  sole  or  principal  object  of 
the  thoughts,  looks,  or  words  of  the 
company ; and  never  suspects  that  he 
is  either  slighted  or  laughed  at,  unless 
he  is  conscious  that  he  deserves  it. 
And  if  (which  very  seldom  happens) 
the  company  is  absurd  or  ill-bred  enough 
to  do  either,  he  does  not  care  twopence, 
unless  the  insult  be  so  gross  and  plain 
as  to  require  satisfaction  of  another 
kind.  As  he  is  above  trifles,  he  is 
never  vehement  and  eager  about  them  ; 
and,  wherever  they  are  concerned, 
rather  acquiesces  than  wrangles.  A 
vulgar  man’s  conversation  always  sa- 


#4  Selections 


vours  strongly  of  the  lowness  of  his 
education  and  company.  It  turns  chiefly 
upon  his  domestic  affairs,  his  servants, 
the  excellent  order  he  keeps  in  his  own 
family,  and  the  little  anecdotes  of  the 
neighbourhood ; all  which  he  relates 
with  emphasis,  as  interesting  matters. 
He  is  a man  gossip. 

Vulgarism  in  language  is  the  next, 
and  distinguishing  characteristic  of 
bad  company,  and  a bad  education. 
A man  of  fashion  avoids  nothing  with 
more  care  than  tha".  Proverbial  expres- 
sions, and  trite  sayings  are  the  flowers 
of  the  rhetoric  of  a vulgar  man. 
Would  he  say,  that  men  differ  in  their 
tastes,  he  both  supports  and  adorns  that 
opinion,  by  the  good  old  saying,  as 
he  respectfully  calls  it,  that  what  is 
one  man's  meat  is  another  man's  poison. 


Lord  Chesterfield's  Letters 


If  anybody  attempts  being  smart , as 
he  calls  it,  upon  him,  he  gives  them 
tit  for  tat , ay,  that  he  does.  He  has 
always  some  favourite  word  for  the 
time  being,  which,  for  the  sake  of 
using  often,  he  commonly  abuses. 
Such  as  vastly  angry,  vastly  kind,  vastly 
handsome,  and  vastly  ugly.  Even  his 
pronunciation  of  proper  words  carries 
the  mark  of  the  beast  along  with  it. 
He  calls  the  earth  y earth  ; he  is  obleigedj 
not  obliged  to  you.  He  goes  to  ward , 
and  not  toward  such  a place.  He 
sometimes  affects  hard  words,  by  way 
of  ornament,  which  he  always  mangles 
like  a learned  woman.  A man  of 

1 As  indeed  did  George  III.,  teste  the  anec- 
dote of  Kemble  : “Mr.  Kemble,  obleige  me  with 
a pinch  of  snuff.”  “ It  would  become  your 
Majesty’s  royal  mouth  better  to  say  oblige .” 


#4  Selections 


fashion  never  has  recourse  to  proverbs 
and  vulgar  aphorisms ; uses  neither 
favourite  words  nor  hard  words  ; but 
takes  great  care  to  speak  very  correctly 
and  grammatically,  and  to  pronounce 
properly ; that  is,  according  to  the 
usage  of  the  best  companies.  \_Sept. 
I749<] 

A Father’s  Object.  — Dear  Boy  : 
— From  the  time  that  you  have  had  life, 
it  has  been  the  principal  and  favourite 
object  of  mine  to  make  you  as  perfect 
as  the  imperfections  of  human  nature 
will  allow  : in  this  view  I have  grudged 
no  pains  nor  expense  in  your  education  ; 
convinced  that  education,  more  than 
nature,  is  the  cause  of  that  great  differ- 
ence which  we  see  in  the  characters 
of  men.  While  you  were  a child,  I 
endeavoured  to  form  your  heart  habit- 
116 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


ually  to  virtue  and  honour,  before 
your  understanding  was  capable  of 
showing  you  their  beauty  and  utility. 
Those  principles,  which  you  then  got, 
like  your  grammar  rules,  only  by  rote, 
are  now,  I am  persuaded,  fixed  and 
confirmed  by  reason.  And  indeed  they 
are  so  plain  and  clear  that  they  require 
but  a very  moderate  degree  of  under- 
standing, either  to  comprehend  or  prac- 
tise them.  Lord  Shaftesbury  says,  very 
prettily,  that  he  would  be  virtuous  for 
his  own  sake,  though  nobody  were  to 
know  it ; as  he  would  be  clean  for  his 
own  sake,  though  nobody  were  to  see 
him.  I have,  therefore,  since  you  have 
had  the  use  of  your  reason,  never 
written  to  you  upon  those  subjects : 
they  speak  best  for  themselves ; and  I 
should,  now,  just  as  soon  think  of  warn- 


Selections 


ing  you  gravely  not  to  fall  into  the  dirt 
or  the  fire,  as  into  dishonour  or  vice. 
[Nov.  3,  1749.] 

Good  Breeding.  — A friend  of 
yours  and  mine  has  very  justly  defined 
good  breeding  to  be  the  result  of  much 
good  sense , some  good  nature , and  a little 
self-denial  for  the  sake  of  others , and  with 
a view  to  obtain  the  same  indulgence  from 
them.  Taking  this  for  granted  (as  I 
think  it  cannot  be  disputed),  it  is  aston- 
ishing to  me,  that  anybody,  who  has 
good  sense  and  good  nature  (and  I 
believe  you  have  both),  can  essentially 
fail  in  good  breeding.  As  to  the  modes 
of  it,  indeed,  they  vary  according  to 
persons,  places,  and  circumstances ; 
and  are  only  to  be  acquired  by  observa- 
tion and  experience ; but  the  substance 
of  it  is  everywhere  and  eternally  the 
118 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters 


same.  Good  manners  are,  to  particu- 
lar societies,  what  good  morals  are  to 
society  in  general ; their  cement,  and 
their  security.  . . . Mutual  complais- 
ances, attentions,  and  sacrifices  of  little 
conveniences,  are  as  natural  an  implied 
compact  between  civilised  people,  as 
protection  and  obedience  are  between 
kings  and  subjects : whoever,  in  either 
case,  violates  that  compact,  justly  for- 
feits all  advantages  arising  from  it. 
For  my  own  part,  I really  think  that, 
next  to  the  consciousness  of  doing  a 
good  action,  that  of  doing  a civil  one  is 
the  most  pleasing : and  the  epithet 
which  I should  covet  the  most,  next  to 
that  of  Aristides,  would  be  that  of  well 
bred.  \Same  date^\ 

Books  for  Oratory.  — You  have 
read  Quintilian ; the  best  book  in  the 
119 


#4  Selections 


world  to  form  an  orator;  pray  read 
Cicero , de  Oratore ; the  best  book  in  the 
world  to  finish  one.  Translate  and 
retranslate,  from  and  to  Latin,  Greek, 
and  English  ; make  yourself  a pure  and 
elegant  English  style  : it  requires  noth- 
ing but  application.  I do  not  find  that 
God  has  made  you  a poet;  and  I am 
very  glad  that  he  has  not ; therefore, 
for  God’s  sake,  make  yourself  an  orator, 
which  you  may  do.  Though  I still 
call  you  a boy,  I consider  you  no 
longer  as  such ; and  when  I reflect 
upon  the  prodigious  quantity  of  manure 
that  has  been  laid  upon  you,  I expect 
you  should  produce  more  at  eighteen, 
than  uncultivated  soils  do  at  eight  and 
twenty.  [Nov.  24,  1749.] 

Nickname.  — The  little  defects  in 
manners,  elocution,  address,  and  air  (and 


120 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


even  of  figure,  though  very  unjustly), 
are  the  objects  of  ridicule,  and  the  causes 
of  nicknames.  You  cannot  imagine  the 
grief  it  would  give  me,  and  the  prejudice 
it  would  do  you,  if,  by  way  of  distin- 
guishing you  from  others  of  your  name, 
you  should  happen  to  be  called  Mut- 
tering Stanhope,  Absent  Stanhope, 
Ill-bred  Stanhope,  or  Awkward,  Left- 
legged Stanhope : therefore,  take  great 
care  to  put  it  out  of  the  power  of  ridi- 
cule itself  to  give  you  any  of  these 
ridiculous  epithets  ; for,  if  you  get  one, 
it  will  stick  to  you  like  the  envenomed 
shirt.  The  very  first  day  that  I see  you, 
I shall  be  able  to  tell  you,  and  certainly 
shall  tell  you,  what  degree  of  danger  you 
are  in  ; and  I hope  that  my  admonitions, 
as  censor,  may  prevent  the  censures  of 
the  public.  \_Nov.  26,  1749.] 


121 


#4  Selections 


T rue  Elocution.  — What,  then, 
does  all  this  mighty  art  and  mystery  of 
speaking  in  Parliament  amount  to  ? 
Why,  no  more  than  this,  That  the  man 
who  speaks  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
speaks  in  that  house,  and  to  four  hun- 
dred people,  that  opinion,  upon  a given 
subject,  which  he  would  make  no  dif- 
ficulty of  speaking  in  any  house  in 
England,  around  the  fire,  or  at  table,  to 
any  fourteen  people  whatsoever ; better 
judges,  perhaps,  and  severer  critics  of 
what  he  says,  than  any  fourteen  gentle- 
men of  the  House  of  Commons. 

I have  spoken  frequently  in  Parlia- 
ment, and  not  always  without  some 
applause ; and  therefore  I can  assure 
you,  from  my  experience,  that  there  is 
very  little  in  it.  The  elegancy  of  the 
style,  and  the  turn  of  the  periods,  make 


122 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters 


the  chief  impression  upon  the  hearers. 
Give  them  but  one  or  two  round  and 
harmonious  periods  in  a speech,  which 
they  will  retain  and  repeat ; and  they 
will  go  home  as  well  satisfied  as  people 
do  from  an  opera,  humming  all  the 
way  one  or  two  favourite  tunes  that 
have  struck  their  ears  and  were  easily 
caught.  Most  people  have  ears,  but 
few  have  judgment ; tickle  those  ears, 
and,  depend  upon  it,  you  will  catch 
their  judgments,  such  as  they  are. 
[Dec.  9,  1749.] 

Poets  and  Orators.  — A man, 
who  is  not  born  with  a poetical  genius, 
can  never  be  a poet,  or,  at  best,  an  ex- 
treme bad  one  : but  every  man,  who 
can  speak  at  all,  can  speak  elegantly 
and  correctly,  if  he  pleases,  by  attend- 
ing to  the  best  authors  and  orators ; 

123 


Selections 


and,  indeed,  I would  advise  those  who 
do  not  speak  elegantly  not  to  speak  at 
all ; for,  I am  sure,  they  will  get  more 
by  their  silence  than  by  their  speech. 
As  for  politeness  ; whoever  keeps  good 
company,  and  is  not  polite,  must  have 
formed  a resolution,  and  take  some 
pains  not  to  be  so ; otherwise  he 
would  naturally  and  insensibly  ac- 
quire the  air,  the  address,  and  the 
turn  of  those  he  converses  with. 

\P  ec . 26, 1749.] 

Method  of  Study  — The  World 
and  Books.  — Your  first  morning 
hours  I would  have  you  devote  to  your 
graver  studies  with  Mr.  Harte ; the 
middle  part  of  the  day  I would  have 
employed  in  seeing  things ; and  the 
evenings  in  seeing  people.  You  are 
not,  I hope,  of  a lazy,  inactive  turn,  in 
124 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


either  body  or  mind  ; and,  in  that  case, 
the  day  is  full  long  enough  for  every- 
thing; especially  at  Rome,  where  it  is 
not  the  fashion  as  it  is  here,  and  at 
Paris,  to  embezzle  at  least  half  of  it 
at  table.  But  if,  by  accident,  two  or 
three  hours  are  sometimes  wanting  for 
some  useful  purpose,  borrow  them 
from  your  sleep.  Six,  or  at  most 
seven  hours’  sleep  is,  for  a constancy, 
as  much  as  you  or  anybody  can  want : 
more  is  only  laziness  and  dozing ; and 
is,  I am  persuaded,  both  unwholesome 
and  stupefying.  If,  by  chance,  your 
business,  or  your  pleasures,  should  keep 
you  up  till  four  or  five  o’clock  in  the 
morning,  I would  advise  you,  however, 
to  rise  exactly  at  your  usual  time,  that 
you  may  not  lose  the  precious  morning 
hours  \ and  that  the  want  of  sleep  may 
125 


W:  Selections 


force  you  to  go  to  bed  earlier  the  next 
night.  \_Same  date.~\ 

Moral  Character.  — Your  moral 
character  must  be  not  only  pure,  but, 
like  Caesar’s  wife,  unsuspected.  The 
least  speck  or  blemish  upon  it  is  fatal. 
Nothing  degrades  and  vilifies  more, 
for  it  excites  and  unites  detestation 
and  contempt.  There  are,  however, 
wretches  in  the  world  profligate 
enough  to  explode  all  notions  of  moral 
good  and  evil ; to  maintain  that  they 
are  merely  local,  and  depend  entirely 
upon  the  customs  and  fashions  of 
different  countries : nay,  there  are 
still,  if  possible,  more  unaccountable 
wretches ; I mean,  those  who  affect 
to  preach  and  propagate  such  absurd 
and  infamous  notions,  without  believ- 
ing them  themselves.  These  are  the 
126 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  He 


devil’s  hypocrites.  Avoid,  as  much  as 
possible,  the  company  of  such  peo- 
ple ; who  reflect  a degree  of  discredit 
and  infamy  upon  all  who  converse 
with  them.  \Jan-  8,  1750.] 

Value  of  Character.  — Show 
yourself,  upon  all  occasions,  the  advo- 
cate, the  friend,  but  not  the  bully,  of 
virtue.  Colonel  Chartres,1  whom  you 

1 A notorious,  wretched  debauchee,  who  has 
been  pilloried  into  a miserable  and  degraded 
immortality  by  Arbuthnot,  Pope,  and  Hogarth  ; 
the  painter  has  given  us  his  portrait  in  the 
“ Harlot’s  Progress,”  plate  1 ; Pope  has  set  him 
up  as  an  instance  of  that  hardest  trial  to  good 
men,  the  success  of  the  wicked  : 

“ Should  some  lone  temple,  nodding  to  its  fall, 
For  Chartres’  head  reserve  the  nodding  wall.” 

And  Arbuthnot  wrote  the  most  tremendously 
severe  epitaph  in  the  whole  range  of  literature 
on  him  while  yet  alive  : “ Here  continueth  to 
rot  the  body  of  Colonel  Francis  Chartres,”  etc. 

127 


Selections 


have  certainly  heard  of  (who  was,  I 
believe,  the  most  notorious  blasted 
rascal  in  the  world,  and  who  had,  by 
all  sorts  of  crimes,  amassed  immense 
wealth),  was  so  sensible  of  the  disad- 
vantage of  a bad  character,  that  I heard 
him  once  say,  in  his  impudent,  profli- 
gate manner,  that  though  he  would  not 
give  one  farthing  for  virtue,  he  would 
give  ten  thousand  pounds  for  a char- 
acter ; because  he  should  get  a hundred 
thousand  pounds  by  it  : whereas  he  was 
so  blasted  that  he  had  no  longer  an 
opportunity  of  cheating  people.  Is  it 

Finally  Chesterfield  points  him  out  to  his  son, 
as  the  most  notorious  blasted  rascal  in  the 
world — blasted  indeed  as  by  lightning.  It  is 
needless  to  say  that  this  word  is  not  used  as  a 
vulgar  oath,  but  to  point  out  a man  whose 
name  is,  as  the  Bible  of  1551  has  it,  “ marred 
for  ever  by  blastynge.” 


128 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


possible,  then,  that  an  honest  man  can 
neglect  what  a wise  rogue  would  pur- 
chase so  dear  ? [Same  date.~\ 

Necessary  Accomplishments.  — I 
here  subjoin  a list  of  all  those  necessary, 
ornamental  accomplishments  (without 
which  no  man  living  can  either  please, 
or  rise  in  the  world),  which  hitherto  I 
fear  you  want,  and  which  only  require 
your  care  and  attention  to  possess. 

To  speak  elegantly,  whatever  lan- 
guage you  speak  in ; without  which 
nobody  will  hear  you  with  pleasure, 
and,  consequently,  you  will  speak  to 
very  little  purpose. 

An  agreeable  and  distinct  elocution ; 
without  which  nobody  will  hear  you 
with  patience ; this  everybody  may 
acquire,  who  is  not  born  with  some 
imperfection  in  the  organs  of  speech. 

129 


Selections 


You  are  not ; and  therefore  it  is  wholly 
in  your  power.  You  need  take  much 
less  pains  for  it  than  Demosthenes  did. 

A distinguished  politeness  of  manners 
and  address ; which  Common  sense, 
observation,  good  company,  and  imita- 
tion, will  infallibly  give  you,  if  you 
will  accept  of  it. 

A genteel  carriage,  and  graceful  mo- 
tions, with  the  air  of  a man  of  fashion. 
A good  dancing-master,  with  some 
care  on  your  part,  and  some  imitation 
of  those  who  excel,  will  soon  bring 
this  about. 

To  be  extremely  clean  in  your  per- 
son, and  perfectly  well  dressed,  accord- 
ing to  the  fashion,  be  that  what  it  will. 
Your  negligence  of  dress,  while  you 
were  a schoolboy,  was  pardonable,  but 
would  not  be  so  now. 


130 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


Upon  the  whole,  take  it  for  granted, 
that,  without  these  accomplishments, 
all  you  know,  and  all  you  can  do,  will 
avail  you  very  little.  Adieu.  \Jan. 
18,  I750-] 

Bibliomania.  — When  you  return 
here,  I am  apt  to  think  that  you  will 
find  something  better  to  do  than  to 
run  to  Mr.  Osborne’s,  at  Gray’s-Inn, 
to  pick  up  scarce  books.  Buy  good 
books,  and  read  them ; the  best  books 
are  the  commonest,  and  the  last  editions 
are  always  the  best,  if  the  editors  are 
not  blockheads ; for  they  may  profit 
of  the  former.  But  take  care  not  to 
understand  editions  and  title-pages  too 
well.  It  always  smells  of  pedantry, 
and  not  always  of  learning.  What 
curious  books  I have,  they  are  indeed 
but  few,  shall  be  at  your  service.  I 
I31 


#4  Selections 


have  some  of  the  Old  Collana,  and  the 
Macchiavel  of  1550.  Beware  of  the 
Bibliomanie . \March  19,  1750.] 
Learned  Ignorance.  — A man  of 
the  best  parts,  and  the  greatest  learn- 
ing, if  he  does  not  know  the  world  by 
his  own  experience  and  observation, 
will  be  very  absurd ; and  consequently, 
very  unwelcome  in  company.  He  may 
say  very  good  things ; but  they  will 
probably  be  so  ill-timed,  misplaced,  or 
improperly  addressed,  that  he  had  much 
better  hold  his  tongue.  Full  of  his 
own  matter,  and  uninformed  of,  or 
inattentive  to,  the  particular  circum- 
stances and  situations  of  the  company, 
he  vents  it  indiscriminately  : he  puts 
some  people  out  of  countenance ; he 
shocks  others ; and  frightens  all,  who 
dread  what  may  come  out  next.  The 
132 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


most  general  rule  that  I can  give  you 
for  the  world,  and  which  your  experi- 
ence will  convince  you  of  the  truth  of, 
is,  Never  to  give  the  tone  to  the  com- 
pany, but  to  take  it  from  them ; and 
to  labour  more  to  put  them  in  conceit 
with  themselves,  than  to  make  them 
admire  you.  Those  whom  you  can 
make  like  themselves  better,  will,  I 
promise  you,  like  you  very  well.  [Aug . 
6,  1750.] 

Knowledge  of  Literature.  — A 
gentleman  should  know  those  which  I 
call  classical  works,  in  every  language ; 
such  as  Boileau,  Corneille,  Racine, 
Moliere,  etc.,  in  French  ; Milton,  Dry- 
den,  Pope,  Swift,  etc.,  in  English ; and 
the  three  authors  above  mentioned,1  in 

1 Ariosto,  Tasso,  and  Boccaccio  ; the  Orlando, 
Gierusalemme,  and  Decamerone. 

133 


Selections 


Italian  : whether  you  have  any  such  in 
German  I am  not  quite  sure,  nor,  indeed, 
am  I inquisitive.  These  sort  of  books 
adorn  the  mind,  improve  the  fancy,  are 
frequently  alluded  to  by,  and  are  often 
the  subjects  of  conversations  of  the 
best  companies.  As  you  have  lan- 
guages to  read,  and  memory  to  retain 
them,  the  knowledge  of  them  is  very 
well  worth  the  little  pains  it  will  cost 
you,  and  will  enable  you  to  shine  in 
company.  It  is  not  pedantic  to  quote 
and  allude  to  them,  which  it  would  be 
with  regard  to  the  ancients.  \_March 
2,  1752.] 

Nothing  by  Halves.  — Whatever 
business  you  have,  do  it  the  first  mo- 
ment you  can;  never  by  halves,  but 
finish  it  without  interruption,  if  pos- 
sible. Business  must  not  be  sauntered 


i34 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


and  trifled  with  3 and  you  must  not  say 
to  it,  as  Felix  did  to  Paul,  “ at  a more 
convenient  season  I will  speak  to  thee.” 
The  most  convenient  season  for  busi- 
ness is  the  first  3 but  study  and  business, 
in  some  measure,  point  out  their  own 
times  to  a man  of  sense  3 time  is  much 
oftener  squandered  away  in  the  wrong 
choice  and  improper  methods  of  amuse- 
ment and  pleasures.  \March  5,  1752.] 


135 


Maxims 


By  the  Earl  of  Chesterfield 

PROPER  secrecy  is  the  only  mys- 
tery of  able  men ; mystery  is  the 
only  secrecy  of  weak  and  cunning  ones. 

A man  who  tells  nothing,  or  who 
tells  all,  will  equally  have  nothing  told 
him. 

If  a fool  knows  a secret,  he  tells  it 
because  he  is  a fool ; if  a knave  knows 
one,  he  tells  it  wherever  it  is  his  interest 
to  tell  it.  But  women,  and  young  men, 
are  very  apt  to  tell  what  secrets  they 
know,  from  the  vanity  of  having  been 
trusted.  Trust  none  of  these,  when- 
ever you  can  help  it. 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


Inattention  to  the  present  business, 
be  it  what  it  will ; the  doing  one  thing, 
and  thinking  at  the  same  time  of 
another,  or  the  attempting  to  do  two 
things  at  once;  are  the  never-failing 
signs  of  a little,  frivolous  mind. 

A man  who  cannot  command  his 
temper,  his  attention,  and  his  counte- 
nance, should  not  think  of  being  a man 
of  business.  The  weakest  man  in  the 
world  can  avail  himself  of  the  passion 
of  the  wisest.  The  inattentive  man* 
cannot  know  the  business,  and  conse- 
quently cannot  do  it.  And  he  who 
cannot  command  his  countenance  may 
e’en  as  well  tell  his  thoughts  as  show 
them. 

Distrust  all  those  who  love  you 
extremely  upon  a very  slight  acquaint- 
ance, and  without  any  visible  reason. 
i37 


#4  Selections 


Be  upon  your  guard,  too,  against  those 
who  confess,  as  their  weaknesses,  all 
the  cardinal  virtues. 

In  your  friendships,  and  in  your 
enmities,  let  your  confidence  and  your 
hostilities  have  certain  bounds : make 
not  the  former  dangerous,  nor  the  lat- 
ter irreconcilable.  There  are  strange 
vicissitudes  in  business  ! 

Smooth  your  way  to  the  head, 
through  the  heart.  The  way  of  reason 
is  a good  one ; but  it  is  commonly 
something  longer,  and  perhaps  not  so 
sure. 

Spirit  is  now  a very  fashionable 
word  : to  act  with  spirit,  to  speak  with 
spirit,  means  only,  to  act  rashly,  and  to 
talk  indiscreetly.  An  able  man  shows 
his  spirit  by  gentle  words  and  resolute 
actions  : he  is  neither  hot  nor  timid. 
138 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters 


When  a man  of  sense  happens  to  be 
in  that  disagreeable  situation  in  which 
he  is  obliged  to  ask  himself  more 
than  once,  What  shall  I do  ? he  will 
answer  himself,  Nothing.  When  his 
reason  points  out  to  him  no  good  way, 
or  at  least  no  one  way  less  bad  than 
another,  he  will  stop  short,  and  wait 
for  light.  A little  busy  mind  runs  on 
at  all  events,  must  be  doing ; and, 
like  a blind  horse,  fears  no  dangers, 
because  he  sees  none.  II  faut  savoir 
s' ennuyer . 

Patience  is  a most  necessary  quali- 
fication for  business ; many  a man 
would  rather  you  heard  his  story,  than 
granted  his  request.  One  must  seem 
to  hear  the  unreasonable  demands  of 
the  petulant,  unmoved,  and  the  tedious 
details  of  the  dull,  untired.  That  is 
*39 


#4  Selections 


the  least  price  that  a man  must  pay  for 
a high  station. 

It  is  always  right  to  detect  a fraud, 
and  to  perceive  a folly ; but  it  is  often 
very  wrong  to  expose  either.  A man 
of  business  should  always  have  his  eyes 
open ; but  must  often  seem  to  have 
them  shut. 

In  courts,  nobody  should  be  below 
your  management  and  attention : the 
links  that  form  the  court  chain  are 
innumerable  and  inconceivable.  You 
must  hear  with  patience  the  dull  griev- 
ances of  a gentleman  usher,  or  a page 
of  the  back-stairs  ; who,  very  probably, 
lies  with  some  near  relation  of  the 
favourite  maid,  of  the  favourite  mis- 
tress, of  the  favourite  minister,  or  per- 
haps of  the  king  himself ; and  who, 
consequently,  may  do  you  more  dark 


140 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters 


and  indirect  good,  or  harm,  than  the 
first  man  of  quality. 

One  good  patron  at  court  may  be 
sufficient,  provided  you  have  no  per- 
sonal enemies ; and,  in  order  to  have 
none,  you  must  sacrifice  (as  the  Indians 
do  to  the  Devil)  most  of  your  passions, 
and  much  of  your  time,  to  the  number- 
less evil  beings  that  infest  it : in  order 
to  prevent  and  avert  the  mischiefs  they 
can  do  you. 

A young  man,  be  his  merit  what  it 
will,  can  never  raise  himself ; but  must, 
like  the  ivy  around  the  oak,  twine  him- 
self around  some  man  of  great  power 
and  interest.  You  must  belong  to  a 
minister  some  time,  before  anybody 
will  belong  to  you.  And  an  inviolable 
fidelity  to  that  minister,  even  in  his 
disgrace,  will  be  meritorious,  and  rec- 


#4  Selections 


ommend  you  to  the  next.  Ministers 
love  a personal,  much  more  than  a 
party  attachment. 

As  kings  are  begotten  and  born  like 
other  men,  it  is  to  be  presumed  that 
they  are  of  the  human  species ; and 
perhaps,  had  they  the  same  education, 
they  might  prove  like  other  men. 
But,  flattered  from  their  cradles,  their 
hearts  are  corrupted,  and  their  heads 
are  turned,  so  that  they  seem  to  be 
a species  by  themselves.  No  king 
ever  said  to  himself,  Homo  sum , nihil 
humani  a me  alienum  puto . 

Flattery  cannot  be  too  strong  for 
them  ; drunk  with  it  from  their  infancy, 
like  old  drinkers,  they  require  drams. 

They  prefer  a personal  attachment 
to  a public  service,  and  reward  it  better. 
They  are  vain  and  weak  enough  to 
142 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters 


look  upon  it  as  a free  will  offering 
to  their  merit,  and  not  as  a burnt  sac- 
rifice to  their  power. 

If  you  would  be  a favourite  of  your 
king,  address  yourself  to  his  weaknesses. 
An  application  to  his  reason  will  seldom 
prove  very  successful. 

In  courts,  bashfulness  and  timidity 
are  as  prejudicial  on  one  hand,  as 
impudence  and  rashness  are  on  the 
other.  A steady  assurance,  and  a cool 
intrepidity,  with  an  exterior  modesty, 
are  the  true  and  necessary  medium. 

Never  apply  for  what  you  see  very 
little  probability  of  obtaining ; for  you 
will,  by  asking  improper  and  unattain- 
able things,  accustom  the  ministers 
to  refuse  you  so  often,  that  they  will 
find  it  easy  to  refuse  you  the  properest, 
and  most  reasonable  ones.  It  is  a 


Selections 


common,  but  a most  mistaken  rule 
at  court,  to  ask  for  everything,  in 
order  to  get  something : you  do  get 
something  by  it,  it  is  true ; but  that 
something  is  refusals  and  ridicule. 

There  is  a court  jargon,  a chit-chat, 
a small  talk,  which  turns  singly  upon 
trifles ; and  which,  in  a great  many 
words,  says  little  or  nothing.  It  stands 
fools  instead  of  what  they  cannot  say, 
and  men  of  sense  instead  of  what  they 
should  not  say.  It  is  the  proper  language 
of  levees,  drawing-rooms,  and  ante- 
chambers : it  is  necessary  to  know  it. 

Whatever  a man  is  at  court,  he 
must  be  genteel  and  well-bred ; that 
cloak  covers  as  many  follies,  as  that 
of  charity  does  sins.  I knew  a man 
of  great  quality,  and  in  a great  station 
at  court,  considered  and  respected, 


144 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


whose  highest  character  was  that  he 
was  humbly  proud,  and  genteelly  dull. 

It  is  hard  to  say  which  is  the  greatest 
fool ; he  who  tells  the  whole  truth,  or 
he  who  tells  no  truth  at  all.  Charac- 
ter is  as  necessary  in  business  as  in 
trade.  No  man  can  deceive  often  in 
either. 

At  court,  people  embrace  without 
acquaintance,  serve  one  another  with- 
out friendship,  and  injure  one  another 
without  hatred.  Interest,  not  senti- 
ment, is  the  growth  of  that  soil. 

A difference  of  opinion,  though  in 
the  merest  trifles,  alienates  little  minds, 
especially  of  high  rank.  It  is  full  as 
easy  to  commend  as  to  blame  a great 
man’s  cook,  or  his  tailor : it  is  shorter, 
too ; and  the  objects  are  no  more  worth 
disputing  about  than  the  people  are 
i45 


#4  Selections 


worth  disputing  with.  It  is  impossible 
to  inform,  but  very  easy  to  displease, 
them. 

A cheerful,  easy  countenance  and 
behaviour  are  very  useful  at  court ; 
they  make  fools  think  you  a good- 
natured  man ; and  they  make  designing 
men  think  you  an  undesigning  one. 

There  are  some  occasions  in  which 
a man  must  tell  half  his  secret,  in 
order  to  conceal  the  rest : but  there 
is  seldom  one  in  which  a man  should 
tell  it  all.  Great  skill  is  necessary 
to  know  how  far  to  go,  and  where 
to  stop. 

Ceremony  is  necessary  in  courts,  as 
the  outwork  and  defence  of  manners. 

Flattery,  though  a base  coin,  is 
the  necessary  pocket-money  at  court ; 
where,  by  custom  and  consent,  it  has 
146 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  He 


obtained  such  a currency,  that  it  is 
no  longer  a fraudulent,  but  a legal 
payment. 

If  a minister  refuses  you  a reasonable 
request,  and  either  slights  or  injures 
you ; if  you  have  not  the  power  to 
gratify  your  resentment,  have  the  wis- 
dom to  conceal  and  dissemble  it. 
Seeming  good  humour  on  your  part 
may  prevent  rancour  on  his,  and  perhaps 
bring  things  right  again : but  if  you 
have  the  power  to  hurt,  hint  modestly, 
that,  if  provoked,  you  may  possibly 
have  the  will,  too.  Fear,  when  real, 
and  well  founded,  is  perhaps  a more 
prevailing  motive  at  courts  than  love. 

At  court,  many  more  people  can 
hurt,  than  can  help  you ; please  the 
former,  but  engage  the  latter. 

Awkwardness  is  a more  real  disad- 


i47 


#4  Selections 


vantage  than  it  is  generally  thought  to 
be  ; it  often  occasions  ridicule,  it  al- 
ways lessens  dignity. 

A man’s  own  good  breeding  is  his 
best  security  against  other  people’s 
ill  manners. 

Good  breeding  carries  along  with 
it  a dignity  that  is  respected  by  the 
most  petulant.  Ill  breeding  invites 
and  authorises  the  familiarity  of  the 
most  timid.  No  man  ever  said  a pert 
thing  to  the  Duke  of  Marlborough. 
No  man  ever  said  a civil  one  (though 
many  a flattering  one)  to  Sir  Robert 
Walpole. 

When  the  old  clipped  money  was 
called  in  for  a new  coinage  in  King 
William’s  time,  to  prevent  the  like 
for  the  future,  they  stamped  on  the 
edges  of  the  crown  pieces  these  words, 
148 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  £# 


et  decus  et  tutamen . That  is  exactly 
the  case  of  good  breeding. 

Knowledge  may  give  weight,  but 
accomplishments  only  give  lustre  ; and 
many  more  people  see  than  weigh. 

Most  arts  require  long  study  and 
application ; but  the  most  useful  art 
of  all,  that  of  pleasing,  requires  only 
the  desire. 

It  is  to  be  presumed  that  a man 
of  common  sense,  who  does  not  desire 
to  please,  desires  nothing  at  all ; since 
he  must  know  that  he  cannot  obtain 
anything  without  it. 

A skilful  negotiator  will  most  care- 
fully distinguish  between  the  little  and 
the  great  objects  of  his  business,  and 
will  be  as  frank  and  open  in  the  former, 
as  he  will  be  secret  and  pertinacious 
in  the  latter. 


149 


Selections 


He  will,  by  his  manners  and  address, 
endeavour,  at  least,  to  make  his  public 
adversaries  his  personal  friends.  He 
will  flatter  and  engage  the  man,  while 
he  counterworks  the  minister;  and  he 
will  never  alienate  people’s  minds  from 
him,  by  wrangling  for  points,  either 
absolutely  unattainable,  or  not  worth 
attaining.  He  will  make  even  a merit 
of  giving  up  what  he  could  not  or 
would  not  carry,  and  sell  a trifle  for 
a thousand  times  its  value. 

A foreign  minister,  who  is  concerned 
in  great  affairs,  must  necessarily  have 
spies  in  his  pay ; but  he  must  not  too 
easily  credit  their  informations,  which 
are  never  exactly  true,  often  very  false. 
His  best  spies  will  always  be  those 
whom  he  does  not  pay,  but  whom 
he  has  engaged  in  his  service  by  his 
I5° 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters 


dexterity  and'  address,  and  who  think 
themselves  nothing  less  than  spies. 

There  is  a certain  jargon,  which, 
in  French,  I should  call  un  persiflage 
d'affaires , that  a foreign  minister  ought 
to  be  perfectly  master  of,  and  may 
use  very  advantageously  at  great  enter- 
tainments in  mixed  companies,  and 
in  all  occasions  where  he  must  speak, 
and  should  say  nothing.  Well  turned 
and  well  spoken,  it  seems  to  mean 
something  though  in  truth  it  means 
nothing.  It  is  a kind  of  political  badi- 
nage, which  prevents  or  removes  a 
thousand  difficulties,  to  which  a foreign 
minister  is  exposed  in  mixed  conversa- 
tions. 

If  ever  the  volto  sciolto  and  the  pen - 
sieri  stretti  are  necessary,  they  are  so 
in  these  affairs.  A grave,  dark,  re- 
JS1 


Selections 


served,  and  mysterious  air  has  fcenum 
in  cornu . An  even,  easy,  unembar- 
rassed one  invites  confidence,  and  leaves 
no  room  for  guesses  and  conjectures. 

Both  simulation  and  dissimulation 
are  absolutely  necessary  for  a foreign 
minister;  and  yet  they  must  stop  short 
of  falsehood  and  perfidy  ; that  middle 
point  is  the  difficult  one  : there  ability 
consists.  He  must  often  seem  pleased, 
when  he  is  vexed ; and  grave,  when 
he  is  pleased ; but  he  must  never  say 
either : that  would  be  falsehood,  an 
indelible  stain  to  character. 

A foreign  minister  should  be  a most 
exact  economist ; an  expense  pro- 
portioned to  his  appointments  and 
fortune  is  necessary  ; but,  on  the  other 
hand,  debt  is  inevitable  ruin  to  him. 
It  sinks  him  into  disgrace  at  the  court 
152 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Hr 


where  he  resides,  and  into  the  most 
servile  and  abject  dependence  on  the 
court  that  sent  him.  As  he  cannot 
resent  ill  usage,  he  is  sure  to  have 
enough  of  it. 

The  Due  de  Sully  observes  very 
justly,  in  his  Memoirs,  that  nothing 
contributed  more  to  his  rise,  than  that 
prudent  economy  which  he  had  observed 
from  his  youth ; and  by  which  he 
had  always  a sum  of  money  beforehand, 
in  case  of  emergencies. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  fix  the  particular 
point  of  economy ; the  best  error  of 
the  two  is  on  the  parsimonious  side. 
That  may  be  corrected,  the  other 
cannot. 

The  reputation  of  generosity  is  to 
be  purchased  pretty  cheap ; it  does 
not  depend  so  much  upon  a man’s 
i53 


#4  Selections 


general  expense,  as  it  does  upon  his 
giving  handsomely  where  it  is  proper 
to  give  at  all.  A man,  for  instance, 
who  should  give  a servant  four  shil- 
lings would  pass  for  covetous,  while  he 
who  gave  him  a crown  would  be 
reckoned  generous  : so  that  the  differ- 
ence of  those  two  opposite  characters 
turns  upon  one  shilling.  A man’s 
character,  in  that  particular,  depends 
a great  deal  upon  the  report  of  his 
own  servants ; a mere  trifle  above 
common  wages  makes  their  report 
favourable. 

Take  care  always  to  form  your 
establishment  so  much  within  your 
income,  as  to  leave  a sufficient  fund 
for  unexpected  contingencies,  and  a 
prudent  liberality.  There  is  hardly 
a year,  in  any  man’s  life,  in  which 
i54 


Lord  Chesterfield’s  Letters  Sfr 


a small  sum  of  ready  money  may 
not  be  employed  to  great  advantage.1 

xUpon  the  back  of  the  original  is  written, 
in  Mr.  Stanhope’s  hand,“  Excellent  maxims,  but 
more  calculated  for  the  meridian  of  France 
or  Spain,  than  of  England.” 


THE  END. 


rtr~ 

•>  - ^ 


